Meetings In a Subway Car
by R. M. Jackson
Summary: AU. LITERATI. She intended to block him out of her life when she fled. He needed to get away from the West Coast. And somehow, they collided in the middle.
1. Rory's Decision

I hope everyone's thrilled that I'm starting yet another multi-chapter story! I tried to work with just one story open, but then I learned I work better with more options to add to. In realization of that, I opened up something new to work on. I'm going to be updating a lot during the week now. When I have more than one thing to concentrate on, I'm a better thinker.

The format of this story is a bit different to how I normally work. I just want to explain this now. The first chapter is centered on Rory, while the second chapter is focused on Jess. This will not be a POV story. The whole thing will be in third person. It's just how I write. However, as the title suggests, Rory and Jess will eventually meet and their chapters will merge somewhere down the line. This story is set in **Boston**. I live right outside of Boston, so whenever I mention a landmark or region, it does exist!

Again, I feel the need to dedicate something to Jessica. Mostly, this is because the Boston Red Sox will be mentioned quite a few times. I can't tell you why, because that would spoil the story, but I can tell you she helped spark this idea!

**Disclaimer: I do NOT in any way, shape, or form own Gilmore Girls.**

* * *

**Rory's Decision**

Yale felt so close and daunting. Rory stared at her bulletin board adorned with college paraphernalia. The burning sensation in her throat caused her to look away. Yale was never where she wanted to go to college. Not that she would ever tell anyone, but Rory chose Yale to be 22.8 miles away from Jess. Now he was gone. Rory didn't want anyone to witness mourning his departure, especially Lorelai.

"Rory?" her mother called from the kitchen.

Hastily, Rory wiped her eyes and prepared to feign a smile when she opened the door. "Morning," she said plainly as she ventured into the kitchen for some much needed coffee. Both Gilmores sat at the table before Rory asked, "Can we talk?"

"Of course!" Lorelai had been worried because Rory had become so withdrawn. She didn't want to think it had anything to do with Jess leaving, but Lorelai knew the truth. Deep down, she knew Rory was hurting badly.

"Would it…would it be okay if I went to Harvard?" Rory managed to squeak out. "Instead of Yale?"

Lorelai looked at her daughter in shock. "Why would I stop you?" she asked.

"The distance and everything. I don't know," Rory said. "I just want to get out of here and relocate. I'm sure you understand the desire for change. Going somewhere I'm unknown would be really great," Rory mentioned, making her point about leaving for Harvard.

Lorelai nodded. "I know. You're young, and we've been looking forward to Harvard for years. Let's do it," she said, shooting Rory a smile.

In return, Rory hugged her mother gratefully. "Thanks, mom. I'm going to fill out the forms and study!" As quickly as she could, Rory escaped back to her room and closed the door behind her.

Lorelai sighed. In the back of her mind, she knew Rory chose Yale to be close to Jess and not just to stay attached to "Mommy." Starring into her cup of coffee, Lorelai realized it was almost time to let Rory go. She was growing up quickly, and a mother can't pause that process. It was her life, and the next chapter was just beginning.

* * *

Every place in Stars Hollow marked a memory, a sarcastic comment, or a romantic gesture. She hated it. Crumpling her receipt from Doose's Market, she tried to avoid eye contact with any of the townspeople. They knew she was heartbroken. As much as she attempted to hide it, even she knew her heart had been completely shattered. It was a simple assumption that could be proved. With Dean, there was no wallowing needed after their final break up-just Jess. The first time they ended their relationship, she didn't know what she wanted. It was hard to go from seeing a person daily to avoiding them at all costs. 

Jess was...well, he was Jess. He was a healthy opposite of Dean. Jess left her hanging and watching more. In short, she was addicted to him. And she wanted more, now. They may not have been together for as long as she dated Dean, but there was more to their relationship than frivolous romantic situations. For some reason, she found the need to wallow this time around.

Ice cream and candy in hand, Rory headed back to the Crap Shack for a night to herself. Lorelai was working late at the Independence Inn, so Rory decided to wallow alone. Ultimately, Rory decided she did not want her mother to be knowledgeable of her pain. After all, it was Rory who refused to wallow in the beginning. It wasn't that she was against wallowing; she just didn't think it was productive. When Rory evaluated her priorities, she realized she had finals to study for and papers to write. However, every time she attempted to concentrate, her mind would aimlessly wander back to Jess. This was just something she had to do.

* * *

"Do we have to go in?" Rory asked as she wrung her hands nervously. 

"That _is_ the plan," Lorelai said as she rang the bell.

"They're going to be so disappointed," Rory mentioned glumly.

"I've disappointed them for over thirty years. They'll live, hon. Remember that this is _your_ decision, not theirs. Don't be swayed by anything they say, understand?"

Nodding, Rory turned back to the unanswered door. "I'm nervous," she admitted.

"Just wait until after drinks. A little alcohol in Emily Gilmore makes everything easier." On Rory's look, "Trust me, I know."

A meek, little maid pulled open the front door and wordlessly took their coats. As usual, she was a different maid from last time. Rarely was the same one there by the next Friday night dinner.

"Richard!" Emily called up the staircase. "They're here!" She looked at Rory and Lorelai standing by the living room. "What are you waiting for, an invitation? Get in here." Dolefully, both mother and daughter followed Emily to the couch.

"Ah, hello, Lorelai, Rory." Richard stepped into the living room and fastened the top button on his suit jacket.

"Dinner is ready," the maid announced softly, folding her hands.

"We're not done with drinks yet," Emily snapped.

"But, dinner is ready," the maid repeated, unsure of herself.

"Dinner is supposed to be served at seven o'clock!" Emily responded. "What time is it?"

"It's six fifty-eight," she squeaked.

"Wonderful. Come get us in two minutes then!" Emily turned back to the drink cart. "It's so hard to find competent help these days," she remarked. "What would you like to drink? Lorelai, the usual martini?"

"Yes, thank you."

"Rory, what about you?" Emily asked.

"Club soda, please," she answered.

Emily handed Lorelai the martini and Rory the club soda. Grabbing Richard's and her own drink, she smiled. "How are you two doing tonight?" she asked, a kinder tone seeping from her voice.

Before Lorelai or Rory could answer, the maid emerged in the doorway once more. "Dinner is served."

"Well, it's about time! It's seven oh-two," Emily snapped, looking at her watch.

The maid appeared to whimper in protest.

"Well, come along." Emily directed everyone to the dining room.

"I can't do this," Rory whispered to Lorelai.

"It will be fine," Lorelai responded, trying to convince herself as well. She allowed Rory to pass her before pausing by the frightened maid. "Run!" she whispered loudly and proceeded into the dining room.

"Rory," Richard started as they began dinner. "I called the Yale admissions office to check on your enrollment status, and I was informed that you have yet to put down the registration fee. It is extremely important to register quickly. The deadline is fast approaching."

"It's important to get the fee in on time," Emily added. "You want them to hold your spot."

Rory looked across the table at Lorelai. Quickly, Lorelai forced her eyes back to her plate.

"OW! What was that for?" Lorelai yelped as Rory kicked her underneath the table.

"Lorelai, is it too much trouble for you to behave?" Emily snapped.

Rory winced. Her grandmother had been in a questionable mood all night. It just didn't seem like the time to barrage her grandparents with her news.

"Rory needs to tell you something," Lorelai prompted. Immediately, Rory shot her a death infused glare. "OW! Not cool!" Lorelai reached down and rubbed her tender shin.

"Why, Rory, we'd be delighted to hear your good news," Richard encouraged.

Gnawing on her lip, Rory quickly constructed her thoughts. "Grandma, Grandpa, I'm going to Harvard."

A sudden stillness hung over the room. Rory couldn't tell if it was a bad thing they weren't responding.

"That is delightful news, isn't it?" Emily said curtly.

"Indeed!" Richard said, standing. He threw his napkin on the plate. "This is preposterous, Lorelai! How you dare you force your daughter to change her mind?"

Emily stood as well. "I think dinner is over."

Lorelai was stunned. "This is not my doing! Why must you be so insistent to blame me for everything?" she cried out.

"Because everything is ultimately part of your plan to bring us down," Emily replied harshly. "It was extremely inconsiderate to excite us with "Rory's going to Yale!" and then drop this bomb on us!"

"That's not what happened!" Rory yelled. Three heads whipped in her direction, surprised by her tone. "This is _my_ decision! I want to go to Harvard! I don't want to be stuck in this place anymore! Not in Stars Hollow, not in Connecticut!" she screamed, releasing her pent up anger. "I want to go somewhere nobody knows who I am! I need a new start somewhere else!" Her face turned red as she slammed her fork down. Rory proceeded to grab her jacket, and then dashed outside to weep.

"This is your fault, you know. You raised her to speak to us like that!"

"Yeah, well, why don't you tack global warming on while you're making a list tonight. I have a disgruntled, angry kid crying out front."

Lorelai accepted her jacket from the maid and exited the estate to find Rory sobbing in the Jeep.

"That went well, kid," Lorelai said jokingly.

"I don't think Grandma had enough to drink tonight," she said through sobs.

* * *


	2. Jess and the GED

I'm glad everyone seem to like the idea of this story so far. He's chapter two. Please read and review.

A giant thank you to all my chapter one reviewers: DiehardJavaJunkie14, CherryWolf713, Kassandra27, ShaolinQueen, Curley-Q, Christi, gilmorefanforever, Sagebeth, GrlWithoutAName, and EvilSmirk6.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gilmore Girls or Amoeba Music. I've never been there, but I looked up a neat place for Jess to work…so it does exist.

* * *

**Jess and the GED**

He never enjoyed sun and the ocean before, which was why Jess surprised himself when he showed up in Venice Beach. Yet here he was, still in California two months later. Jess had not opted to stay with his father; instead, he rented an apartment in Los Angeles with a few guys. It wasn't home, but it was the city. Jess was accustomed to the city by now. Los Angeles may have been hotter than New York, but it was not all that different.

He had moved on to California to change his life, and that was exactly what he was doing. The classes to prepare Jess for his GED had started three weeks ago. What Luke had told him rang true in his mind. There was no way he would make anything of himself if he didn't get an education. Jess hated to admit his uncle was right, but he was.

Jess slung his knapsack over his shoulder and fished in his pocket for the key to his apartment. It was an old, run down place that he shared with three other guys. The living room had a musty smell, Jess realized, as he dropped his bag by the couch.

"Hey, man!" Alex called from the other room. Jess looked in the direction of the voice. "How was class?"

Jess grunted. He had tried to tolerate the other guys in the apartment, but Alex attempted to get on his good side too often. "Fine."

Unlike Sam, Alex, and Joe, Jess was obviously not a high school graduate. On the other hand, he wasn't sure about college when all three of them were accepted to UCLA. He was grateful for the apartment, but wasn't sure why they had opted for it instead of a dorm room.

Sam was friendly with Jess, as they worked together at Amoeba Music on West Sunset Boulevard. They shared common interests, mostly music and books. Sam turned his attention away from the computer as Jess entered the room they shared. Jess collapsed on his bed and pressed the pillow against his face.

"Hard day?" Sam asked as he swiveled in the desk chair.

"Mmphh."

"I get it," Sam said as he turned back to his word processor. "Have you written to that girl yet? What was her name…Lori?"

"Rory," Jess said from behind the pillow. "And no, I haven't written to her yet."

"You should do it soon," Sam said simply.

"Maybe," Jess replied. He had been thinking about Rory lately and how he had left her. The only reason he hadn't said goodbye was that he hoped to come back to her soon. After a month, he knew it wasn't going to happen. Rory Gilmore was too good for him anyway. She was smart and beautiful, and that meant she would find a new boyfriend soon. Rory was bound for Yale, the Ivy Leagues, the roaring field of journalism, while he was bound for unemployment and poverty. "I'm not good enough for a girl like that."

"You're getting your GED," Sam said.

"She's going to _Yale_," Jess said. "She was _valedictorian_ in high school. I dropped out, left her and my uncle, and came here." Jess shook his head. "You don't need to know these things. I'm not interesting, and I don't need to tell you this."

"You're the only intelligent conversation I have. Alex and Joe don't talk to me about anything important." Sam typed a few words and turned to face Jess. "Do you love her?"

Grumbling, Jess pressed the pillow against his face once more. Did he love her? Did he, Jess Mariano, love Rory Gilmore? Over the years, he had experienced lust and sex. With Rory, things were different. She wasn't the same as other girls. For one thing, they had dated longer than any of his exes. In addition to that, they never had sex. Jess had run off before the relationship was able to mature. "Maybe," he answered vaguely.

"Then what are you waiting for?"

"I just want to be right for her," Jess mused as he got up, tossing the pillow on the bed. "I'm going to get my GED and go to college."

"That's the spirit!" Sam said, turning away from his computer again. "Where are you going to go?"

Shrugging, Jess started toward the door. "A different city for a new start."

"Newer than here?" Sam asked. He liked Jess, and considered him a friend. Jess had only been in California for two months.

"Something different, maybe further east," Jess said. "After I get my GED, I'm out of here."

Sam watched as Jess closed the door behind him and shook his head. Jess was a good guy, and he deserved to get what he wanted out of life. Sam wasn't going to stand in the way of a person he barely knew. If Jess was going back east, there wasn't anyone that would be willing to stand in his way.

* * *

Jess roamed the streets before finding the ATM machine he was looking for to check his balance. The job at Amoeba Music paid fairly well and he put in a decent amount of hours. They only expenses he had collected were related to the apartment and his GED. Jess slid his card and punched in his pin number. The $5,219.87 stared back at him in blue. Intently, he concentrated on the number as if it would triple if he looked long enough. Angrily, he quit off the screen and tucked his bank card in his wallet. He knew he couldn't get a fresh start if he didn't have more money.

Jess didn't consider California a fresh start. He didn't like California as much as he thought he would. Los Angeles seemed like the perfect place to begin his new life, but in reality, it was just a sunnier version of his old life. Sure, he had a little more order and independence. In the long run, that wasn't what Jess was looking for. He had grown up over the past two months, and he was strong enough to admit he had. There were just some things that needed to be sorted out. Back east, there wasn't as much heat. Jess hated hot weather and sunshine. Sighing, Jess set out to work. If he didn't make any money, there was no chance of another change.

The bell over the door chimed as he entered Amoeba Music. "Dude, hey!" Charlie greeted him. "You're early, man. That's radical."

Jess shook his head. He needed to get away from people like Charlie. Sam's shift started an hour after his. Glancing at his watch, Jess realized he was twenty minutes early. He had been warned about clocking in too early, so he found a comfortable spot by a CD rack and sat with his book. It was a book Rory recommended to him, and that made him think about her. Digging a pencil from his jacket pocket, Jess opened the book and began to read. He scribbled some notes in the margins and looked at his watch every few minutes. After about twelve minutes, Jess shut the book and looked at the front desk.

He punched in and spied Charlie doing inventory. Sighing, Jess stationed at his register post. During the hour before Sam showed for his shift, Jess had some time to think. It would be a couple months before he was completely finished with his GED. It was too late to think about a regular college. Jess knew he should look up a couple community colleges to start courses after the first semester. After that, he would be able to transfer to a better school. Jess didn't want to return to New York. He had explored all the possibilities in his head, and couldn't come up with a single reason to go back. In theory, it seemed like a good place to settle back on, but Jess knew he wouldn't get any work done, especially with his past still residing there to haunt him. He couldn't stay in California, since the weather and the people annoyed him to no end. Still, he wanted a place where he was unknown and could sink into the scenery. Pennsylvania? No. New Jersey? No. Washington D.C.? No. Boston? Jess hesitated as the name flashed in his mind. Boston. It had a nice ring to it, and it was a college town. Not only would there be plenty of options for him there, it would be easy to blend in with the rest of the population. A smirk crept onto his lips as Sam pushed the heavy door open.

"You're smug," he said offhandedly.

"I'm going to Boston," Jess said.

"Boston? That's far away. It's cold there!" Sam exclaimed.

"Huh. Never knew that." Jess looked down at the register before facing Sam again. "Not leaving yet."

"I'll be sad to see you go," Sam said.

"Don't get all sappy on me," Jess requested.

"Deal," Sam agreed. "As long as we can buy a six pack and chill before you leave."

Jess smirked again. "As long as you never use the word "chill" in that context again, I'm with you."


	3. Rory in Harvard Square

Here's the next chapter with Rory. I've skipped some time here, mostly because of the trip to Europe. Rory is attending Harvard at the moment. I just wanted to mention what else is different from the show.

The Independence Inn did NOT burn down, which meant the money that was originally set aside to buy the Dragonfly was used to send Rory to Harvard.

Rory did NOT go to Emily and Richard to fund her college education, mostly because they were angered by her decision. She is attending under a hefty scholarship and Lorelai is attempting to make ends meet by paying the rest. That also means she did not receive a car for graduation.

Lorelai still attends Friday Night Dinner because she is still indebted to her parents.

Everything above will eventually be touched upon eventually.

Thank you to everyone who reviewed the previous chapter: CherryWolf713, ShaolinQueen, GrlWithoutAName, DiehardJavaJunkie14, Curley-Q, gilmorefanforever, Christi, and Lynn.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls or any of the places and things mentioned in this chapter, including, but not limited to: The MBTA, Harvard Square, The Harvard Coop, _Oliver Twist_, Spare Change News, Crazy Dough Pizza Co., and any of its products, and The Garage.

* * *

**Rory in Harvard Square**

The crisp Boston wind whistled outside Rory's window as she began to wake up. Sitting up, she noticed Andrea studying across the room.

"Good morning, Ror," her roommate greeted her.

"You're up early," Rory said as sat up in bed and stretched. Andrea was already dressed for the day at nine in the morning.

"Rearing to go at seven today," Andrea said, turning her attention away from the books strewn across her cluttered desk.

Yawning, Rory trudged over to her closet and flipped through the clothing. She had class in an hour and a half, but she wanted to grab breakfast in the dining hall and a coffee to go. "It looks cold today," Rory said, trying to make some conversation with her roommate.

"It's freezing," Andrea replied, shutting a textbook. "I didn't get food yet. You want to go together?" she asked.

Rory smiled. "Sure. Just let me get dressed and we can leave." Rory passed a Metallica shirt in the closet and quickly brushed it aside before she remembered who the former owner was. The shirt shouldn't have even been in her closet to begin with. Lorelai must have tucked it in while they were organizing the clothes. Hastily, Rory grabbed a pair of jeans, a long sleeved shirt, and a sweater out of the closet.

"We were thinking about heading to the city this weekend," Andrea mentioned as she looked away so Rory could get dressed.

"The city?" Rory asked, pulling on her jeans.

"Yeah. Boston. Duh. We're in Cambridge now."

"I knew that," Rory said, desperately trying to recover from her brief moment of stupidity. The sweater caused her hair to frizz, and Rory cringed. She grabbed her sequined hairbrush a la Lorelai and started working through the knots.

"Yeah. We'll take the T to Park Street and walk around. We'll grab something to eat and maybe shop," Andrea said as she brushed her own long brown hair.

"That sounds great," Rory said as she pulled the charger out of her cell phone. She wished she had seen more of Boston and even the trains. The last, and only, time she had been on a train was with Jess in New York. She was certain that the Massachusetts transportation would be different. Andrea was from originally from Arlington, which was close to Cambridge, so she knew her way around. Rory had also become friendly with a few people from her classes in passing, many of which were residents of the state. Rory felt left out, but she hadn't been willing to explore quite yet. Lorelai had tried to talk her into a Harvard square trip, but she avoided heading over.

"You ready to head downstairs? I'm starving," Andrea said, interrupting Rory's thoughts.

Rory pulled her book bag over her shoulder and grabbed a light jacket. "Let's go."

* * *

In the three weeks since she had been at Harvard, Rory had not ventured to Harvard square. The bustle of activity seemed to bother her, even though it shouldn't have. Taking a deep breath, Rory stepped outside the gates and looked across the street. She walked a moment before passing The Coop. Harvard memorabilia and books littered the inside of the windows. Rory sighed. She had heard about The Coop around campus. Most of the students bought their books at The Coop, and it looked like an inviting place. 

As far as bookstores went, The Coop was definitely one of the biggest Rory had ever stepped foot in. She flipped through dozens of volumes, eying the hefty prices as she went along. When it came to books, Rory was usually never cautious about the prices. Her scholarships and financial aid covered a majority of her tuition, but the remainder left Lorelai strapped for cash. Rory didn't have much spending money, and she knew her mother was scrimping as it was. Sighing, Rory slid a twenty-dollar hardcover back into the bookcase and continued to browse. She eyed a staircase and noticed people going downstairs. Books lined every shelf, and in the middle of the floor was a used book table. As Rory sifted through the piles, she found more three to five dollar books than she had seen in a lifetime. Pausing to move a James Bond novel, Rory spotted a tattered copy of _Oliver Twist_ marked for two dollars. She gazed at it lovingly and touched the worn cover. When Rory opened flipped the pages, she half expected his tiny and precise scrawl to coat the margins. It didn't, but she added the book to the top of her pile. After she calculated approximately twenty-five dollars in books, Rory felt her stomach rumble. Looking at her watch, she realized it was almost time for dinner.

"Is this everything?" the woman at the register asked Rory.

"That's all," Rory said as she pulled out her wallet.

"That'll be twenty-seven dollars and thirty cents." Rory tugged at the crisp bills in her wallet and handed the cashier thirty dollars. "Thanks. Have a nice day!"

Outside The Coop was a wide-open space. Turning right, Rory was bombarded with people walking in her direction and away from the many homeless people sleeping on the sidewalks. "Excuse me," a kind voice called from her left. A tall, lanky black man was holding a stack of newspapers.

"Oh, hi!" Rory said, surprised that someone was trying to get her attention.

"Would you like a paper?" he asked. "It's for the homeless that want to help themselves. Called the Spare Change News."

Rory nodded. "Sure."

"It only costs a dollar," the man continued.

"Oh definitely," Rory said, shoving her hand in her purse. She fished for a dollar bill while the man continued talking.

"There's some nice articles in there," he said. "And it helps the poor and homeless get back on their feet."

Rory dug deeper in the purse. There were a few shady looking people around, and she didn't want to count her money in front of them. "It sounds like a great cause," she said, not wanting to stand there mute.

"Do you need some change?" he asked.

"Oh, no. I have a dollar right…here!" Rory pulled the dollar free and handed it to the man. He handed her a paper.

"Make sure you read that. There's some great stuff in it. And thank you," he said. "A lot people just pass me by, but you, you look like you're going somewhere. You're focused. That's nice to see in young people."

Rory could feel her face flush. "Thanks."

"Most of the time, everyone ignores me. They don't think homeless people should stop them on the streets. Then every so often someone stops, just like you did. Where are you headed?" he asked.

Truthfully, Rory didn't know where she was going. "I'm not really sure. I'm just wandering around," she answered. "I don't really know the area."

"That's always good too. Focused doesn't always mean you have to know where you're going. Are you a Harvard student?" he asked.

"I go to Harvard, yes. I don't live in Boston, though. I'm not used to the city," Rory said, looking around at the congested traffic.

"That's nice. I hope Harvard is good to you."

"I like it. I'm a journalism major, so I can't wait to look at this paper." Rory smiled.

"That's great. Hey, spread the word. I hope you find what you're looking for," the man said. Rory turned to walk away. "Oh, and zip your bag. Wouldn't want a pretty thing like you to get robbed."

"Thanks," Rory said. "Good luck," she added, waving. Briefly, she looked at the cover of the paper. It really did look interesting, but she was starving. Rory walked around and crossed a few streets before reaching a sign that read Crazy Dough's in big, green letters. It sounded promising, and she was hungry enough to agree to anything. It was nestled in a place labeled "The Garage," and she was curious as to what else was inside.

The smell hit her as soon as she entered. Rory decided the pizza shop was what heaven would smell like. There were about seven people in line, which started as soon as the stairs brought Rory up. She couldn't believe how many types of pizza there were. As she stood in line, she scanned the menu.

"What can I get for you?" the man behind the counter asked.

Rory thought back to the menu she had just past. "A slice of nacho pizza, a slice of cheeseburger bacon pizza, and a slice of supreme, please."

"Coming right up. Just go down the end of the counter."

After Rory collected her heaping plate of slices, she scoped out a table. Her phone began to chime as she sat down.

"Hello?"

"Oh, darling daughter! Is it really you?" Lorelai asked.

"It's me," Rory said, laughing.

"I hear people. Are you at a college party?" Lorelai joked.

"No, it's only five-thirty." Rory took a giant bite of the nacho pizza. "Oh, mom, you're never going to guess what I'm eating."

"Ramen and bread?"

"No! Nacho _pizza_," Rory said as she bit into the slice again.

"Nacho pizza! Where has it been all my life?" Lorelai questioned. "I think I need to get down there and learn the ways of a Harvard student!"

"It's great. When you come visit, we'll have to get pizza here," Rory said.

"That's right. My baby's birthday is soon, and I'm staying the weekend." Rory could hear her mother grinning over the phone.

"I'm excited. I miss you, mom," Rory said somberly.

"Now don't cry in your delicious nacho pizza. I'll be there soon."

"Right, because this nacho pizza is delicious. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have this pizza," Rory teased.

"I see how it is. You're being a pizza tease!" Lorelai accused.

"There's no teasing here. Just a giant slice of pizza heaping with nachos, peppers, salsa, and sour cream," Rory continued.

"You're such a pizza tease! Well, two can play this game. Oh, Luke's coffee is _so_ good. I bet you don't have a delicious, steaming mug of Luke's coffee where your pizza is." Lorelai attempted to keep a straight face, even though Luke was staring at her.

"Coffee tease," Rory mumbled as she took a bit of the cheeseburger bacon pizza. "I have cheeseburger and bacon on this slice."

Lorelai was silent.

"I win," Rory declared.

"Not for long, oh sweet child of mine."

"I'm not sure if I can deal with your childish ways right now," Rory said. "Besides, my pizza is getting cold."

"Oh, okay. Fine, abandon momma for the ooey gooey cheese-y goodness. I'll try not to cry!" Lorelai said dramatically.

"I love you, mom."

"I love you, kid."

* * *

Lorelai stuck her phone inside her purse. "Didn't I tell you to go outside?" Luke asked gruffly. 

"But it's raining out." Lorelai pouted.

"What's wrong?" Luke asked as Lorelai's lower lip trembled ever so slightly.

"I'm jealous. I want nacho pizza!" she whined. "Pleaseeee Luke?"


	4. Jess Mariano, Boston Bound

One last thing that I forgot to mention was that Jess did NOT call Rory from California. They have not�heard from�each other since the bus ride.

I don't want to have to stress this, but please don't plead with me to have Rory and Jess meet sooner. I need to establish their independence before I can get them together. Just stay patient, and before you know it…they'll meet.

Thanks for the reviews on chapter three: Curley-Q, DiehardJavaJunkie14, Lynn, YankeesFan12, ShaolinQueen, CherryWolf713, Sagebeth, gilmorefanforever, flowerson, bartocorleone, chunkymunky85, and Kassandra27.

Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Gilmore Girls or _Oliver Twist._

* * *

**Jess Mariano, Boston Bound**

Jess collapsed on his bed and threw the pillow over his face.

"Rough day?" Sam asked.

Jess groaned under his pillow. "Why did I convince myself that working two full time jobs would be a good idea?" Jess asked.

"Because you need to money to move and go to college, remember?" Sam responded, turning back to his computer.

"Shut up," Jess mumbled.

"Seriously, though. What's your schedule like?" Sam asked. 

"I'm working seven in the morning to seven at night at the café down the street. Then I usually have enough time to run down the block to the market for my seven o'clock shift that lasts until one-thirty in the morning." Jess buried his face in the pillow again. 

"Jess, that's like eighteen hours a day," Sam pointed out.

Jess slid under the blankets. "But I'm making almost a thousand dollars a week, before the tips," he reasoned.

"But aren't you tired of working all the time? You barely have time to sleep, never mind do anything else." Sam hit a few keys on his keyboard. "You're going to kill yourself like this." He paused. "Jess?" he asked, not looking away from the computer screen. A snore came from his tired roommate's direction. "Okay. You're asleep. I may as well be talking to the wall."

Jess started to snore louder and Sam groaned. During the day, he had the whole room to himself. Even when Jess was at the apartment during his scattered days off, he didn't make a whole lot of noise. When he was sleeping, that was another story. Jess snored louder than anyone Sam had ever slept in the same room with. Groaning, Sam shut down his computer and crawled into his own bed.

At six-fifteen in the morning, Sam was jarred awake by a buzzing noise. Groggily, Sam opened one eye and surveyed the dark room. Jess usually whacked the snooze button on obnoxious alarm clock before it woke his roommate up. This morning Jess was flopped over on his bed, ignoring the steady shriek of the plastic object. Sighing, Sam pushed himself out of bed and wandered over to sleeping Jess. He inspected the clock on the bed table and started pressing buttons. Instead of successfully quieting the alarm, Sam hit the radio button. Yet another noise blared from alarm clock. Sam was about ready to give up. 

"Dude, your fucking alarm clock in going off!" he yelled to Jess. He rolled his eyes when Jess failed to respond. "Come on," he said, shaking his roommate's shoulder. "Get up. I can't find the stupid snooze button!" Jess didn't wake up. Groaning, Sam got down on the floor to unplug the alarm clock. "Aha!" he exclaimed, finding the outlet the clock was plugged into. He ripped out the plug and was sorely surprised to find the clock ran on batteries as well. The alarm and the FM radio continued to shriek. Sam grabbed the pillow off his bed and smacked Jess in the head with it. He continued to hit him with the pillow until the snoring ceased. 

"Jesus," Jess mumbled. "Stop hitting me with the fucking pillow." He reached his hand up to block Sam's pillow. "Ugh. What the hell is that noise?"

Sam reeled backward on the floor. "That's your alarm. It's been going off for almost ten minutes!"

"Christ. What time is it?" Jess rubbed his eyes and looked at the red numbers dancing across his clock. "It's almost six-thirty! I have to leave!" Jess thrust the offending object at Sam. "Turn it off!" he yelled as he grabbed a fresh shirt out of the closet. He yanked off the wrinkled one and slid into the clean shirt. 

"Dude, no! I don't know where the off switch is!" Sam yelled after Jess. The door slammed and Sam sighed. "Fuck this," he said, tossing the alarm clock out the window.

* * *

After a long work week, Jess embraced his Saturdays off. Usually, the guys would grab a case of beer and they would all relax in the apartment. For Jess, the greatest thing about having a day off was getting a new book to read. Jess poured his café tips out on the floor. Throughout the week, Jess would swallow his pride and wait tables. It was a cliché California job, but it worked for him. The pay was great and the tips were usually steady. Saturday was the day he brought the tips to the bank to deposit in his growing account. 

Carefully, Jess rolled his quarters, nickels, dimes, and pennies before packing his earnings up in a bag. This week, he had earned four hundred dollars in tips. Uncle Luke would have been pleasantly surprised by the way Jess had turned around his attitude. At the diner, he would always grunt back orders and be rude to people. In California, he tried to be nice and it seemed to be paying off. It was literally paying off. 

Jess accepted the deposit slip from the teller and scanned it before finding the magic number. A smile plastered on his lips as he stared at the twenty-thousand dollar figure. It was more money than he ever had in his entire life. Now he could buy his plane ticket, granted his GED scores were ever processed. Wandering down the street with a five-dollar bill in his pocket, Jess noticed a used bookstore he hadn't been in yet. After browsing for ten minutes, he fingered a worn copy of _Oliver Twist._ Deciding that he needed another copy, since his other one was missing, Jess picked it up and brought it over to the register. The book cost only two dollars, and he opened it as soon as he exited the store. 

"Jess!" Sam yelled as he entered the apartment.

"What?" Jess asked, looking up from page five.

"Your GED scores arrived with the mail today." Sam handed him an envelope and Jess hesitated. "Come on. Open the damn thing."

He flung the book on his bed and grabbed the envelope. Ripping it open with his index finger, Jess extracted the sheet of paper.

"What does it say?" Sam pressed, waiting for the expression on his friend's face to change. 

"Apparently, today is a good day," Jess said as he stuck the page back in the envelope. 

"So that means…?"

"I passed!" Jess yelled before throwing himself on his bed. He picked _Oliver Twist_ back up and began to read where he left off.

"Hey, Jess?"

"What?" he asked, not looking up from the pages.

"You don't want to get a beer and celebrate?" Sam asked.

"You guys will have a case later. We can celebrate then," Jess said, fishing in his drawer for a pencil. 

"Yeah, but that's them," Sam stressed.

"So?"

"So we're friends, right? Why can't we go and celebrate?" Sam asked.

"I don't care about celebrations. Besides, Joe and Alex get plastered after two beers. We'll have the whole place and case of beer to ourselves." Jess started writing something in the margin of his "new" book. 

Sam looked away for a second. "Okay. That's how it is, then," he answered.

"No, that's not what I meant. Sam, it's my only day to myself. And then I need to buy my plane ticket." Jess tried to recover, and slipped the paperback under his mattress. 

"Plane ticket?" Sam choked. 

"I hit twenty-thousand with my last paycheck. I'm a little over." Jess said.

"Well, that's great man. Congrats," Sam said weakly. 

"Beers tonight, okay? I'm going to the cyber café to buy my plane ticket." 

"Right on," Sam said halfheartedly, pressing a button on his computer.

Jess closed the bedroom door behind him and sighed. Every time he moved on, Jess unintentionally hurt someone.

He sat down at a computer at the cyber café and started checking rates. Typing in Boston, Massachusetts sent a tingle down his spine and caused his stomach to waver. Jess was leaving town. He was finally going to start a new life. Someday when he was a better man, Jess would scope out Rory Gilmore and sweep her off her feet. But he wasn't a better man yet, not even close. It would take years for him to even build up the courage to venture back to Connecticut where he left the girl. As he entered his credit card number, he felt the virtuous tingle in his stomach again. This was right, and he would be on his way in only a couple of weeks.


	5. Happy Birthday, Rory

Phew. Sorry I've been so stingy with my updates this week! This chapter was slapping me in the face every time I looked at it. Luckily, we're seeing eye to eye now…and everything should be updated by the end of the week.

Thanks for the reviews on chapter four: DiehardJavaJunkie14, CherryWolf713, Miss-Jedi, ShaolinQueen, GrlWithoutAName, gilmorefanforever, Curley-Q, blonde.biatch, bartocorleone, and Lynn.

Disclaimer: I do not claim to own any of the following: Gilmore Girls, The T, Copley, The Boston Public Library, Oliver Twist, any bands mentioned, The Garage, Ben and Jerry's and Chunky Monkey, Newbury Comics, and the dialogue taken from "Rory's Birthday Parties."

* * *

**Happy Birthday, Rory**

"Next stop, Harvard Square." Rory looked around the subway car before going back to her book. She was starting to understand why Jess enjoyed the trains so much in New York. As long as there weren't menacing people riding with her, Rory enjoyed the trip underground Boston. "Harvard Square," the voice boomed over the loud speaker. The doors binged open and Rory collected her things to exit the train. Since Andrea had introduced her to the Boston subway, Rory had tried to travel during the week. As much as she loved Harvard's many libraries, there was nothing better than a train ride to Copley Square. The Boston Public Library was lined with books, and Rory felt at home inside.

Rory headed back to campus. Lorelai was supposed to show up much later in the evening, where she would stay the night and spend Rory's birthday with her. She unlocked her door and stepped inside.

"Surprise!" Lorelai jumped off Rory's bed and Rory dropped her things on the floor.

"Mom!" The two Gilmores collided into a heap on the floor. "I thought you weren't coming until later!"

Lorelai grinned. "I couldn't help myself."

"I'm so happy you're here! We need to do everything!"

Laughing, Lorelai lifted herself off the floor and extended her hand to Rory. "I can't wait, kid."

"I want to take you to Harvard Square and on the T and…" Rory trailed off on Lorelai's glance. "What?"

"You're excited," she said.

"I am!" Rory exclaimed. "I want to show you everything, take you to every store, and feed you every food!"

"Well, it's about lunch time for me. What do you say?" Lorelai asked as she looked at her watch.

"Mom, would you like nacho pizza?" Rory asked, hoping to achieve a response from her mother.

"Oh, daughter of mine. Nacho pizza it is!"

Rory and Lorelai wandered into Harvard Square and Rory directed the way to The Garage.

Lorelai bit into her nacho pizza and looked at Rory. "You're right. It really is the best pizza ever!"

Rory laughed and tore into her own slice. "Do you want to look around after this?"

"Sure," Lorelai said. "What else is here?"

"Newbury Comics, Ben and Jerry's, and some other small shops." Rory tried to think of all the places she had poked in over the past couple of weeks.

"Ben and Jerry's?" Lorelai asked "Are you sure it isn't my birthday?"

Laughing, Rory let her slice fall to her plate. "I'm glad you're here," she said.

"I am too." Lorelai paused. "Have you been doing okay?" she finally asked, concerned about her daughter.

"Oh, yeah. I'm fine, mom." Rory lifted the slice to her lips and took a bite. "My classes are great; the city is great; everything is just great."

"What about your friends?" Lorelai asked.

"Andrea. Andrea's really nice. She's from around town, so she always shows me the best places. I've found some new places to sit and read."

"Any new places to not seclude yourself in?" Lorelai dropped her pizza back on the plate. "What about boys?"

Rory groaned. "Mom. You're never like this. I don't need a boy right now. I'm me and I'm independent," she said proudly.

"What about Jess?"

Rory looked away. "What about Jess?"

"I don't know. Is he still on your mind?"

"Jess was never on my mind," Rory lied. "It was Jess. He's easy to forget."

Lorelai nodded, but saw the flash of pain in Rory's eyes. "Ice cream?" she asked, trying to make peace. They dumped their garbage and headed downstairs.

"Too many flavors," Lorelai complained.

"We should get them all," Rory joked.

"Can I live here?" Lorelai asked as she pointed to the glass case filled with ice cream tubs.

Finally, Lorelai settled on Chunky Monkey and Rory on plain vanilla. Rory licked a drip sliding down her cone. _Because ice cream is always better in cones_. She sighed, and pushed the thought out of her mind.

"Where to next?" Lorelai asked. "Oh, Newbury Comics, right?"

Rory smiled excitedly as she bit into her cone. "It's right upstairs."

Lorelai grabbed her purse and they traveled up the skinny escalator. "Look at it all," she gasped. Rows and Rows of CDs were lined up around the store. Lorelai set off to find old favorites while Rory perused the general sections. She passed a disorganized box of used CDs marked for two dollars apiece, and immediately turned back. Flipping through the cracked cases, she noticed a pattern: Distillers, Metallica, The Clash, Led Zeppelin, Metallica, Distillers, The Clash, Iron Maiden. Rory stacked the CDs back in the box and turned the corner, a Distillers CD held tightly in one hand. Like the copy of Oliver Twist, she stared at the cover and expected him to ooze from the casing.

* * *

"Happy Birthday, little girl," Lorelai whispered as she crawled into bed with Rory. Rory attempted to move over as much as possible. "Your college bed is small."

"I know."

"I can't believe how fast you're growing up," Lorelai continued as the pair snuggled up against each other.

"Really? Feels slow," Rory joked.

"Trust me. It's fast. You're in college. Harvard. What do you think of your life so far?"

"I think it's pretty good," Rory said slowly.

"Any complaints?"

_Him. I want him to go away. _"Well, Boston and Stars Hollow are pretty far away," she said finally.

"I'll work on that right away," Lorelai promised, smoothing back her daughter's hair. "So you know what I think?"

"What?"

"I think you're growing up to be a great kid, and that you're the best friend a girl could have."

Rory smiled. "Right back at you, mom."

"And it's so hard to believe that at exactly this time many moons ago, I was lying in exactly the same position..."

"Oh, boy. Here we go." Rory rolled her eyes and looked back at her mother.

"Only I had a huge, fat stomach and big fat ankles, and I was swearing like a sailor…"

"On leave," Rory reminded her.

"On leave! Right! And there I was…"

"In labor," Rory cut in again.

"And while some have called it the most meaningful experience of your life, to me it was something more akin to doing the splits on a crate of dynamite," Lorelai said with ease. "And I was screaming and swearing and, being surrounded as I was by a hundred prominent doctors, I just assumed there was an actual use for the cup of ice chips they gave me."

"There wasn't."

"But pelting the nurses sure was fun."

"I love you, mom," Rory whispered sleepily.

"I love you too, kid. Happy Birthday."


	6. Hey, Jess

This is important: As I have been doing, each chapter skips ahead a few weeks

This is important: As I have been doing, each chapter skips ahead a few weeks. It is now November and Jess is already in Boston. You'll read that in a moment. I have also introduced a new character that you'll learn about shortly. He's not center stage, but he will not be so faded in the background that you barely see him. One last thing, as you will read, Jess is growing up. I'm sure you'll notice that during the course of the chapter. Oh, and the end…

Thanks for the reviews on chapter five: ultimategilmoregirl, Curley-Q, DiehardJavaJunkie14, chunkymunky85, CherryWolf713, ShaolinQueen, gilmorefanforever, and Lynn.

Disclaimer: Ah…all the things I wish I owned but sadly don't: the MBTA and any of the stations, BHCC, Mike's, Coke, _Oliver Twist, _and the Boston Red Sox. Things I do own: Corey Sullivan and tickets to a game in June.

* * *

**Hey, Jess**

"Hey, Sully. Yeah, of course I'll be home for dinner tonight. Order Supreme. Supreme is fine." Jess rushed past a group of people exiting the train station. "I'll pick it up on the way back. I'm coming right now." He stuck his hand in his pocket and fished for the tokens he had purchased in bulk. "Okay, I'll see you later." Jess pressed the off button on his cheap cell phone and slipped it into his messenger bag before going through the turnstile. The orange line train heading to Oak Grove sped up and left the station. Jess sat down on a bench and waited for the next train to Forest Hills to arrive. A breeze cut through his jacket and he wrapped it around himself tighter. Looking up, he saw the train he was expecting in the distance.

Jess had almost been too late to register at Bunker Hill Community College, but he was able to secure a spot for the fall 2003 semester. As the doors binged open, Jess scurried for the spot he most liked on the orange line. It was free, as it usually was when his English class ended on a late Friday afternoon. Jess settled into the seat and propped his messenger bag in his lap. He tipped his head to the side and closed his eyes until the train reached Downtown Crossing.

After registering at Bunker Hill, it was vital for Jess to find somewhere cheap and mildly safe to live. The first person that jumped to mind when he thought Boston was his friend Corey Sullivan. In New York, Jess and Corey had been best friends. Corey's parents were divorced, but he had a decent relationship with his dad. During the summers, Corey would spend bits and pieces of his vacation with his father in Boston. After Jess was shipped off to Stars Hollow, they had kept in contact through letters. Luke would often inquire who the person on the return address was, but Jess liked to keep his New York life separate from his Stars Hollow life. Since running off to California, Jess had neglected to check in with Corey. When he finally called him to ask if his dad knew of a place to move in, Jess was shocked. Corey was living near the city in a rentable apartment, and he was in desperate need of a roommate. Out of all the people Jess knew, Sam and Rory aside, Corey was the person that knew him best. Since he did not believe in any kind of fate, Jess chalked it up to pure luck. As soon as he arrived in Boston, Jess moved in with Corey and settled down.

College was changing Jess, and he liked it. He was calm, organized, and social. Corey, or Sully as he was typically called, was elated to have his friend back in a nicer state of mind. Jess was proud of himself; he was changing his life around and his resources had yet to run dry. The apartment, as it turned out, was nice and clean, not to mention convenient to get to from school. Corey had always been a neat-nick and made sure everything was perfect. It couldn't have gotten any better for Jess.

Sully had changed from when Jess personally knew him, which he figured was what the move to Boston did. Sully loved math, literature, pizza, and the Boston Red Sox. As far as sports fans were, Jess knew Sully was a big one. When the Red Sox lost their chance at a championship, though Jess had no idea which one, it was the only thing Sully talked about for a straight week.

"Downtown Crossing." Jess slung his bag over his shoulder and raced toward the next train he needed to catch. The red line to Alewife arrived right as Jess stepped on the platform. It had been a long day for Jess. Since classes had started, he had been working his ass off studying. The concept surprised Jess at first, but he found himself enjoying the order once he was accustomed to it.

"Harvard Square. Next stop, Davis Square." Jess tapped his foot. He and Sully ordered food only on Friday nights. The rest of the week, they ate from the small refrigerator in the equally small kitchen. In the short weeks that Jess had moved to Somerville, he had restored his relationship with his best friend.

"Davis Square." Jess let the bitter cold cut through him once again as he ran across the street and then over to Mike's.

"Hey! Mariano!" Ben yelled from behind the counter.

"Hey, Ben. Sully called in a pick-up. Should be under either of our names.

"I got you right over here." Ben grabbed a large pizza box and handed it to Jess. "Five bucks."

"Five this time? Wow." Jess fished the bill out of his wallet.

"Joint employee discount. Don't rat me out," Ben requested as he rang in the pizza through the register.

"If I'm getting a large Supreme for five dollars, I'm not letting anyone know." Jess straightened his bag on his shoulder and grabbed some plates. "Working tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I'll see you then." Ben waved shortly and Jess was off again.

He balanced everything while searching for the key in his bag. "Sully!" he yelled as he finally got the door open.

"Pizza!" the skinny red head yelled from the couch.

Jess dropped his things by the door and handed his friend the pizza box. "What are you watching?" he asked while breaking apart the paper plates.

"Just the news. There's some talk about Curt Schilling coming from the Diamondbacks to the Sox." Sully turned the volume down before heading over to the refrigerator.

"Who from the what?" Jess asked. He had never been a baseball fan, but Sully was forcing him to brush up on player knowledge.

"Curt! Curt Schilling is an ace pitcher for the Arizona Diamondbacks. They're talking about a contract with the Sox. That could be great!" Sully exclaimed, popping the top back on his Coke. "Especially with all the "Manny's being a traitor and wants to play for the Yankees" news that's been going around. This could be good. This could be really good."

Jess scratched his head. "I really wish I knew who and what you were talking about," he said, popping up his own soda tab.

"When spring training starts, you're watching a game with me. Better yet, I have a few games taped." Sully tore a slice out of the box on the coffee table and looked at Jess. "Hey! That's my soda."

"Tough," Jess replied as he sipped from the can. "You didn't buy any of mine when you went to the market."

Sully rolled his eyes. "Buy it on your own market day."

"I buy both sodas when I shop," Jess retorted. "And I don't have any soda left. Which is why," Jess took another sip of the soda, "I have to drink yours."

"You suck," Sully replied, biting the pizza slice.

"And I paid for the pizza, but you don't hear me complaining about that." Jess flicked a stray piece of sausage at his friend.

"Doesn't that count as complaining?" Sully asked as he flicked the meat back in Jess's direction.

"No. Because I didn't refer to it as my pizza. Which it is."

Sully laughed. "I hate you."

"You're the one that said you were too tired to run a block and a half to Davis to get the pizza." Jess broke off another slice and closed the box to trap in the steam.

"It wasn't out of your way! I knew you were coming back from class." Sully ripped his pizza crust in half and threw it at Jess.

"Why the food fight?" Jess asked as he picked the crust off the floor. "I paid good money for this."

Sully started laughing. "Haven't you noticed this happens every Friday night?"

Jess stopped mid-bite and looked at his friend. "I know."

* * *

Jess clutched his copy of _Oliver Twist_ in his cold hands. His leather jacket was not providing any warmth on that frigid Saturday afternoon. Downtown Crossing station was whirring with excitement as he waited for his train back to Davis Square. The station was underground for the most part, but it was not much warmer than outdoors. He shoved his book in his back pocket and zipped up his leather jacket.

When the train pulled into the station, Jess took the book out of his pocket and sat down gratefully. "Next stop, Park Street. Change here for the Green Line."

"Park Street. Change here for the Green Line." The doors binged open and ten people scurried in for a seat. "Next stop, Charles MGH." Jess looked up from his book briefly and noticed a brunette in the corner.

She peered up at him, a copy of _Oliver Twist_ clutched in her hands, blue eyes penetrating his very being. "Jess?" she whispered in disbelief before dropping the book.


	7. Bye, Rory

Sorry for the shortness of this chapter. I hope it is worth every word, and don't worry…I'll make it up for the length in chapter eight.

Thanks for the reviews on chapter six: DiehardJavaJunkie14, gilmorefanforever, ShaolinQueen, GrlWithoutAName, CherryWolf713, ultimategilmoregirl, Christi, bartocorleone, Sagebeth, Kassandra27, chunkymunky85, Curley-Q, Lynn, and I-luv-jess-mariano.

Disclaimer: I don't own Gilmore Girls, _Oliver Twist_, any MBTA stop, and part of the land line answering machine message. If you know where it's from, I hope you're amused.

* * *

**Bye, Rory**

She peered up at him, a copy of _Oliver Twist_ clutched in her hands, blue eyes penetrating his very being. "Jess?" she whispered in disbelief before dropping the book. She fumbled with the beat up paper back before looking up at his chocolate eyes.

"Rory," he said. "What are you doing here?"

She scoffed. "I could ask you the same thing. I thought you were in California, or New York, or not in Boston."

"What about you, Miss I'm Going to Yale?" he bit back.

"I'm going to Harvard," she whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to a community college," he said.

"That's…nice," she said softly. "You got your GED?"

"In Los Angeles." He smirked.

"Oh, that's…nice." Rory twirled the book in her hands. "Why are you here?" she asked.

"I just told you, I'm going to community college," Jess answered, annoyed.

"No. I mean, why are you here in this state, on this train, sitting across the way from me?" Rory turned her attention to the doors that had just opened. The train was pulling away from Kendall MIT station.

Jess feigned offense. "You mean you're not in any way pleased to see me? I'm a little hurt, Gilmore."

She pointed her finger at him accusingly. "_You_ left _me_."

"I know. I'm sorry," he said lightly.

"You're sorry!" she raised her voice.

Jess groaned. "Hang on a second." He dug in his jacket pocket and pulled out a small cell phone. "What do you want, Sully?" Rory tried to concentrate on the book, but she had lost her page. "No, I'm on the train. By Central. Yeah, I have service. I don't know; it's a weird phone." Rory looked up from the page she was attempting to read. "What? No, I'm not supposed to be there until five." Jess turned his wrist over to look at the time. "It's only four-fifteen. Ben's lying. I never said I'd cover him. I picked up the pizza and left."

"Central Square. Next stop, Harvard Square." Rory looked up at Jess. The next stop was hers, and she wasn't sure if she would ever see him again.

"Just do damage control and rat Ben out?" Jess sighed. "I'll see you in about ten minutes. Okay, bye." He pressed the off button and slid the phone back in his pocket.

"Next stop is mine," Rory said.

"I figured," he responded, not moving from his seat in the corner.

"Okay, then." Rory stuck her book in her open purse and grasped the support bar over her head.

"Wait. Can we talk again?" Jess said quickly.

"I don't want to go anywhere with you," she replied coldly, snapping her head in the other direction.

"I'll be leaving from Downtown Crossing at four-thirty on Monday!" he said quickly.

Rory looked at him one last time before stepping off the train and leaving him alone.

* * *

She stepped on the train at Park Street station at four-thirty seven Monday afternoon.

"Fancy seeing you here," a smug voice from the corner said. "I didn't think you wanted to go anywhere with me."

"I'm on my way back from the library. It's not my fault my schedule coincides with yours." Rory gripped the drawstring of her knapsack and sat across the way from him.

"But you don't have to sit there."

"But I am," she retorted.

Jess smirked and shoved his small book in his pocket. "Tell me something," he demanded.

"What?" she asked.

"Tell me something," he repeated.

"Like what?"

"I don't know. Anything. Why did you go to Harvard?" he asked.

"It's complicated," she answered, shifted the knapsack.

"Oh, so you don't want to talk about it. He leaned closer to her. "Is it because you chose Yale to be close to me?"

"No!" she snapped quickly.

"Touched a nerve there didn't I?" he asked.

"I went to Harvard because I was sick of being reminded of you no matter where I went. Happy now?" she snapped.

Jess was obviously stunned as he looked back at her. "No, that's my fault. I should have said something."

"I don't want to solve our issues on a red line train," she said suddenly.

"What?" Jess asked. "I thought you didn't want to do this."

"I don't," Rory said. "But you hurt me, Jess."

Jess looked down at his sneakers. "I know," he said without looking away from the laces. "I'll get a pizza and we can talk?" he asked feebly.

"Make it two pizzas and I'll consider it," Rory found herself saying. She clamped her hand over her mouth.

"What about two pizzas and an order of chili cheese fries?" Jess smirked, knowing Rory's weakness for food.

Her heart pounded in her chest before she could find her voice. "Okay," she stammered.

Jess reached into his messenger bag to pull out a pen and a piece of paper. He quickly scribbled down two telephone numbers and handed the paper to Rory. "Call me. It's your stop."

Grabbing the paper and her things, Rory dashed out the doors before she missed her stop. She stared at the numbers as the train pulled away from the platform. Why was she doing this? She wasn't sure. Rory stuck the piece of paper between the pages of her book and walked back to the dormitory.

* * *

The phone rang one, twice, three times in her hand before she hung up. Biting her lip, she stared down at the paper, unsure of what number was Jess's cell phone. Confidently, she dialed the first number on the paper and listened to it ring.

"Hey, you've reached Jess Mariano's phone. He's too busy being a wanker, so leave a-What the hell are you doing? Don't set a message on my phone. Shit…how do I erase it?" The beep erupted through the speaker and Rory laughed before hanging up. She scanned down the paper and dialed the other number, which she assumed was for his apartment.

"You're reached Sully and Mariano. We can't get to the phone right now, so leave your low-down at the ding-dong."

Rory laughed. "Jess? It's Rory," she said shyly. "I didn't get you on your cell, so I thought maybe you'd be home. I guess I'll-"

"Rory?"

"Jess."

"You called," he said. Rory smiled at the tone of his voice. It was soft, and made her skin crawl.

"Yeah, I called." Rory sat down on her bed. "You promised me pizza, remember?"

"I just didn't think you'd call," he said honestly. "I'm glad you called."

"Yeah," Rory said softly. Jess was starting to make her melt from the warm tones of his voice. She tried to forget the hurt he caused her over the last five months.

"So, what's going on?" Jess asked gently.

"Just wanted to see about pizza," Rory answered, trying to find something to fidget with.

"Yeah? Well, I'm working tonight. When are you free?" he asked.

"My classes are usually over by three o'clock."

"Well, why don't I meet you at Harvard station at three-thirty on Thursday?"

"That sounds great," Rory said, trying not to sound as enthusiastic as she was really feeling.

"Okay. I'll see you then. Bye, Rory."

"Bye, Jess. And, I'm glad I called too," she whispered before flipped the cover of her phone down.


	8. Jess and Bookmark Chick

When I lifted myself off this writing hiatus, I never realized how hard it would be to settle down and think. As I mentioned in the last stories I updated and my profile, I'm still mourning the passing of my mom. As it stands now, it's numbing to be alone with thoughts and a book, and even harder to try merging the two. I'm trying; it's just harder than I had originally anticipated. Anyway, here's the next chapter to keep everyone else going. I will get back to a regular updating schedule; I'm just not up to it yet.

Thanks for the reviews on chapter seven. You guys are keeping me going: GrlWithoutAName, DiehardJavaJunkie14, gilmorefanforever, CherryWolf713, ultimategilmoregirl, bartocorleone, ohxrosie, ShaolinQueen, Lynn, chunkymunky85, Curley-Q, Jeremy Shane, and cmtaylor531.

Disclaimer: I still don't anything, which includes Mike's and the menu, any product mentioned, the MBTA and their subway lines and stations, and any Red Sox references.

* * *

**Jess and Bookmark Chick**

"Someone smells pretty," Sully joked as he poured a bowl of Fruit Loops.

Jess scowled as he rolled the sleeves of his black button up shirt to his elbows. "I told you, I'm meeting Rory."

"That calls for some extra cologne?" Sully licked his lips and wolf whistled as Jess groaned.

"You are way too gay for your own good." Jess checked his leather watch before sitting at the kitchen table.

"So, Rory." Sully sat across from Jess at the table with his afternoon cereal and tapped his fingers against the surface. "Bookmark chick, right?"

Jess met the comment with another scowl. "Have you been looking through my things?" he accused.

"No." Sully chewed the multi colored corn rings. "Your book fell off the counter and the picture marking your page slipped out. Really cute picture, bro."

Twitching his nose, Jess pulled the bookmark out of his book. It was a posed picture, Lorelai's idea. He had fought the photo opportunity in the beginning, but loved the picture now. Rory was sitting on the counter in the diner while he was perched on a stool in front of her. Her legs dangled past his shoulders as he held onto her ankles. His smirk was less evident in the print. In fact, it almost looked as if he had smiled, slight as it had been, matching the satisfied expressed on Rory's face. "Yeah. I like her," Jess said simply, shoving the picture back between the pages.

Sully nodded and went back to his cereal. "When are you meeting her?"

"An hour and a half." Jess looked at his watch again. He was starting to get impatient, though it was his own fault he was really so early. "I only have a ride to Harvard Square."

Nodding, Sully brought the spoon to his lips and sucked the cereal off. "You bringing her back here?"

"I don't know. Maybe." Jess fidgeted with crinkled pages of his book. He and Rory hadn't gotten off to such a great start. There was no way of knowing how the afternoon would progress.

"I'm going to force you out if you're going to be all monosyllabic." Scooping the remaining cereal from the bowl, Sully pushed the chair away from the table.

"Don't need to tell me twice. Keep your pants on." Jess smirked and pulled on his leather jacket. Before Sully could say anything else, Jess slipped out the door and into the hallway. Shoving his hands in the pockets of his leather jacket, he realized how early he was going to be. The walk to Davis square wasn't very long, as the apartment was close. Jess looked at the sky. It was a piercing blue, just like her eyes. Smiling at the notion, Jess continued on his way to Davis Square.

He let four trains pass him as he read. He liked reading underground in Davis Square rather than Harvard Square. There were more commuters bustling around at Harvard Station than Davis. Despite the fact that it was a college station, Tufts University being right around the corner, the station wasn't quite as packed as Harvard.

Finally, after about forty-five minutes of waiting and reading, Jess boarded the last subway car bound to Ashmont. It was a quiet ride, but it seemed longer to pass Porter Square than usual. Jess assumed nerves were playing a part in the length, so he attempted to plan what to say when meeting Rory.

The doors opened to the platform at three fifteen and Jess walked up to the outbound tracks where Rory would more than likely head. Jess opened his book and sat on a flat wooden bench to continue waiting.

"Hey, Jess." He looked up to see Rory carrying her own book with a bag slung over her right shoulder.

Standing, he wiped his sweaty palm on his knee. "How long have you been waiting?" he asked, checking his watch. Rory was known to be punctual, and the meeting was no exception.

"Not long." She shuffled her feet. "I went over there to wait for you. Then I thought you might be over here waiting for me." Adjusting the strap on her shoulder, Rory looked at her watch. "You're on time." She was moderately surprised, seeing as Jess was never anywhere when he said he would be.

Smirking, "I'm early." Jess fought the urge to swoop in for a kiss and started walking across the platform.

"Where are we going?" Rory asked while to attempted to keep up.

"You'll see." They sat in silence reading as they waiting for the next train heading to Alewife. "Come on," he said as the train pulled up. They sat next to each other, Jess in his favorite corner spot and Rory one seat over. "You ever been to Davis Square?" Jess asked.

"Not yet. It's on my list of places to visit."

Jess smirked. "Okay. That's where we're going. I said my apartment was by there, didn't I?"

Nodding, "I think so."

"I'm not trying to be cheap or anything, but I'm taking you to Mike's."

"Mike's?" she asked.

"It's where I work. An Italian place on the corner. It's good, though. Sully and I order there all the time anyway." Jess fidgeted with his book and noticed how much he was talking.

"Who's Sully?" Rory asked, vaguely remembering the name being thrown out in conversation.

"Roommate. Best friend, actually."

"You have friends?" she asked seriously before following it up with a laugh. "Sorry. The best part caught me."

Jess chuckled, which caused Rory to laugh again. "We've been friends for years. We lived near each other in New York."

"You're laughing; you're happy," Rory pointed out.

"Well, it's pretty nice here."

"You're different," Rory said. "I like it."

"Thanks, I think." Jess smirked and looked out the window to the dark subway. "This is our stop," he said as the train pulled up and stopped at the platform.

Rory grabbed her things and followed Jess off the train and up the stairs. "It's nice out here." She stared at the quaint square. It wasn't as busy as Harvard Square was. The sidewalks and streets weren't as packed as she was accustomed to at school.

"Over there is Mike's." Jess pointed to the corner where Rory had just noticed the red sign. They waited for all the crosswalks to clear and walked over to Mike's.

"Mariano!" Ben yelled from the counter.

"Hey, Ben," Jess greeted him. "What do you want?" he asked Rory. Shaking his head, he turned back to Ben. "Two large pizzas with everything, and order of mozzarella sticks, and an order of cheese fries. Anything else?" he asked Rory.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Oh, and two large Cokes." Jess dug out his wallet and fingered the debit card. Before Ben could tell him the total, Jess handed over his card. Rory toyed with the zipper on her purse. "It's all taken care of, remember?"

"Okay." Rory accepted the large cup and poked the straw through the hole in the plastic cover.

"Come over here; we'll sit." Jess grabbed his own cup and straw before choosing a window booth and sliding in.

"So, hi."

"Hi."

Rory blushed. "This could go on forever."

"What's going on with you?" Jess asked, fidgeting with the straw.

Rory sucked the soda up her straw. "I've just been going to school and hanging around the city. Everything is nice here. I love my classes at Harvard. I'm really glad I decided to go there."

"That's good. I'm glad I didn't disrupt your life too much." Jess twirled the ice in his soda as he stuck the straw in.

Rory shook her head. "I don't want to talk about us yet. How's school and the best friend?" Rory looked back at the counter in anticipation of food.

"Bunker Hill isn't too bad. It's just a community college, so I'll probably look into transferring to a four-year college. I'm getting my life together." He noticed Rory smiling and went on. "When I moved down here, I found out that Sully had an apartment. He ordered me to move in with him. We're having a great time, even though he's always cleaning up after me."

Smiling, "I've never heard you talk this much." She sipped her soda. "It's different."

"Jess!"

"Hang on." Jess stood up and collected the plates waiting for them on the counter.

"That's a lot of food!" Rory exclaimed as she grabbed a pizza trays and some clean plates.

"I've seen you eat," Jess reminded her smugly.

Rory stuck her tongue out at him. She loved that they were being friendly and hadn't started fighting. In the back of her mind, she knew the fighting would happen. Even when they started to get along, an argument was never that far away.

Jess scooped a slice of pizza off the pan and slid it on Rory's plate. "Sully and I usually grab a pizza every Friday night. We watch TV and catch up for the week."

"Sounds nice," Rory said as she sucked the toppings of the point of her pizza slice. "No dates on Friday night?"

Shaking his head, "I don't date."

"You don't?"

"There's no time. I'm a busy person." Jess flicked aside a loose piece of sausage and looked away from Rory. "What about you?"

"Nope. No dates. Mom has tried to force me to go out with someone, but I'm just not interested right now." Rory shifted her eyes nervously.

"What about today?"

"What about today? This isn't a date," Rory said quickly. "It's you and me eating pizza and starting to catch up."

Jess set a second slice on his own plate and toyed with folding the crust. "I know. I was just asking."

Both ate slice after slice and munched on the appetizers in silence. Neither wanted to be the first to speak up, but it had to happen eventually.

"Do you want the last slice?" Rory asked before going after the remaining piece. Jess shook his head and she grabbed slice, taking a large bite.

"I almost forgot how much you could pack away," Jess teased as he dunked a mozzarella stick into the tub of marinara sauce.

Rory reached across the table and slapped his arm playfully. "You held your own. We're almost done with enough food for five people." She grabbed a mozzarella stick from the pile and bit off the end. "Now what?"

"Well, we can always go back to the apartment." Jess paused. "If you want to."

"You're inviting me over?" Rory finished the last fry and chewed thoughtfully.

"Sully will be there. It won't be us alone," Jess assured her.

"Okay, why not?" Rory stacked the cleared plates and stood up.

"Just leave the plates there. Ben will get them."

"Okay." Rory followed Jess out the door.

"It's just a block or so away. Come on." Jess fished through his pocket for his keys as they walked up the street to his apartment. "Here it, home sweet home," Jess said as they walked up the stairs. He stuck the key in the lock and swung the door open. In the living room, Sully was bouncing on the sofa wearing a pair of Red Sox boxer shorts and a blue shirt with a red number thirty-three on the back. "Jesus! Sully!" Jess covered Rory's eyes with his hand. "I told you to keep your damn pants on!"

"Curt Schilling signed with the Sox!" Sully shouted as he bounced on the couch.

"And that means you need to take your pants off and jump on the furniture?" Jess asked as he turned his back to Sully. "Come in here." Jess grabbed Rory's hand and dragged her into his bedroom.

"What was that?" Rory asked as she sat on the bed.

"That was my roommate and friend Sully. He has some serious attachment issues to Boston sports teams. Apparently, his new thing is parading around the living room without pants on. He's a little obsessed."

Rory laughed. "You were right, though. He does seem nice."

Jess sat down next to Rory and his bed creaked. "So, hi."

"Hi."

"Hi." Jess looked down at his shoes.

"Now what?" Rory asked.

Jess leaned in closer until he could feel Rory's uneven breath against his skin. She shut her eyes and he brushed his lips chastely against hers. Rory slid her fingers slowly under his mop of unruly hair. The kiss deepened and Rory broke away quickly, bolting to the side of the room and leaning against the door.

"Jess…I…" she paused. "I have to go." Rory grabbed her bag from the corner and sped out of the room.


	9. Jess, Wait!

**Special thanks to Java, who gave me a crazy idea about a pool game that I converted into a sane idea.**

Thanks for the reviews on chapter eight: DiehardJavaJunkie14, imcck, cmtaylor531, Jeremy Shane, bartocorleone, Curley-Q, Sagebeth, ShaolinQueen, Lynn, krymsunkiss52, I-luv-jess-mariano, gilmorefanforever, and ArigatoKarateBaby.

Disclaimer: I still don't own anything. It really didn't change since the last chapter.

* * *

**Jess, Wait!**

"He kissed you?"

"And then I ran away!" Rory exclaimed, sinking onto her bed with the phone.

"Rory," Lorelai started, "why is it you always run from the guys that want to kiss you?"

Rory sighed. "I don't know, Mom. It's just that…Jess! He ran off to California and then he ends up living like a mile away from me! It's almost like he knew I'd be here or something and it's driving me nuts! He starts off egotistical as usual, but then he turns into sweet Jess – the one that takes me to lunch, then to his apartment with his pantsless roommate and kisses me!"

"Whoa, honey. Slow down. Pantsless roommate?"

"Sully. Jess's roommate. I don't know how else to explain it other than to tell you he was bouncing on the couch in boxer shorts. But that's really not the point, Mom."

"But he was wearing something?"

"He was wearing something."

"Oh. Okay. Carry on then."

Rory sighed. "I'm done. He kissed me! And then I ran away!"

"You need to figure out what happened back in that room. This is Jess. The same Jess that broke your heart by running out west and just approached you on a red line train during rush hour."

"Okay," Rory said slowly. "I need advice, and I need you to be my best friend and not my mom when I ask you this. What should I do?"

Lorelai sighed and quickly straightened out her thoughts. "I think if you really want to be with Jess, you should at least give him the benefit of the doubt and let him in. Oh, and try to avoid running away if he leans in for a kiss. That usually turns a guy off. Not that I want you turn one on."

Laughing nervously, Rory stood up and slipped her sneakers on. "Thanks, Mom."

"I'll talk to you later, Sweets. Keep me updated?" Lorelai requested.

"Of course," Rory conceded. "Bye, Mom." Flipping down the cover of her phone, Rory glanced around the room. It was empty, but comfortably so. She sighed and flipped through the library of numbers in her cell phone. The cursor passed by Jess's name with the phone symbol and then with the house symbol. Rory scrolled up and down, passing both numbers on the tiny screen. Sighing again, Rory tossed the phone on the bed and stared at the ceiling.

She wasn't sure what to do. Jess had just entered himself in her life again. Rory wasn't entirely certain if she was willing to accept it. Not talking to him wasn't doing her any good at all. Opening the phone, Rory scrolled past the numbers and selected the house line. She hit send and pressed the phone against her ear, but slammed it shut before it even started to ring.

* * *

"It's ridiculous! I've thought of everything, and I can't seem to think of what I managed to do wrong! I apologized, for one, which is something I never do under any circumstance. I apologized! Jeez! Imagine that! And then I tried to make it up to her with food, which is something no Gilmore can ignore. Food! And lots of it. We didn't talk about our past…we barely touched on it! There was nothing standing in the way! She didn't even hesitate when I asked her back to the apartment! And that fucking kiss. Jeez…that fucking kiss. You'd think it was her idea from the way she was kissing me! And then what does she do? She runs away! Why would she run away?"

"...Was it because I wasn't wearing pants?" Sully asked, scratching his head.

"NO! Why is everything about you?" Jess threw his hands up in the air and let himself fall back on the couch.

"Because I can't understand you when you talk that fast. Or that much." Sully looked over at Jess and then back at the television. "Did I tell you that…"

"Yeah. Curt Schilling signed with the Red Sox. Whoopdie fucking doo." Jess flipped off the TV and tossed the remote aside.

"Hey! I was watching that!" Sully protested.

"Put some damn pants on and help me with my problem and I'll let you control the TV." Jess popped open the tab of his can of soda.

"That's my friggin' soda!"

"Not anymore it isn't," Jess replied smugly, taking a long sip.

Sully sighed and watched Jess chug the can of soda. "Okay. What do you want me to do?" He lolled his head in his friend's direction as Jess placed the soda can on the coffee table.

Jess shrugged.

"Man. We hang out here all the time. We should just go out and pick up some chicks," Sully suggested, lunging for the remote.

Jess slapped Sully's hand away and threw the remote across the room, breaking the battery pack in the process. "How's that going to help me with Rory?" he asked.

Sully scratched his head and shrugged. "I don't know. Get your mind off her?"

"I don't want to get my mind off her."

"Oh." Sully contemplated the answer for a moment. "Well, then can I watch TV now?"

Jess shook his head and looked up at the ceiling. "We should go out."

"Like a date? I don't swing that way, man."

Jess smacked Sully across the head. "No. Not like that. Like on Saturday nights."

"But it's Thursday," Sully pointed out.

Sighing, Jess stood up and looked at his friend. "You know. Pool, underage drinking, pizza…" He paused in the hopes Sully would catch on. "You picking up chicks…"

"Oh. Okay." Sully smiled faintly and glanced at Jess. "I'm going to…put some pants on."

"I'd appreciate it."

* * *

Jess straightened his leather jacket and smoothed his hands over his freshly gelled hair. "You look fine. Move over." Sully gently pushed Jess away from the mirror and worked his own gel through his brownish red hair, spiking as he went along the roots. "You take so long to get ready, like a girl," he said, capping the bottle of hair gel and placing it next to Jess's.

Rolling his eyes, Jess pushed Sully out the bathroom door. "What's with the compliments today? I feel so honored."

"You know I was fooling, don't you?" Sully asked uncertainly as he grabbed his leather jacket off the door hook.

"I know," Jess responded, exasperated that his friend couldn't see past his sarcasm after all those years.

Sully shut the door after them and they sauntered down the hallway. "The usual?" he asked.

"The usual works," Jess said as they stepped outside and faced the brisk air. The typical five minute walk to the bowling alley was a longer, silent trip. Sully, always the older looking of the two, purchased two beers and grabbed a cue ball off the counter.

"You're lucky they still take my fake ID here," Sully said as he popped the cap off his beer.

"You'll be twenty soon. What's it matter?" Jess asked as he struggled with his own cap.

"Shove it," Sully griped, grabbing Jess's beer and popping the cap off it skillfully. "So this is good," he said, placing the cue ball in the center of the table.

Jess took a swig of the beer and placed it on the side of the pool table. "It's great," he said. "You breaking?" he asked.

"I'm breaking." Sully lined his shot up while Jess leaned against the wall drinking his beer. The balls cracked against each other and shot in different directions until the six dropped into the left corner pocket. "Solid," Sully said as he lined up the next shot. Jess nodded and watched Sully pocket the solid red ball. The next shot was ill arranged, and the five bounced against the wall of the table.

Jess studied the table and circled around it twice. He propped his butt against the ledge of the table and positioned the cue behind his back.

"Oh, now we're being fancy." Sully took a swig of his own beer and watched as Jess pocked thirteen. "Hmm, fancy works for you." He stood back and watched Jess work his way through the striped balls until he scratched.

"Shit," Jess swore under his breath while Sully dug the cue ball out of the pocket.

"It's about time I get a turn." Jess was well aware Sully was much better at pool as he watched him pocket the rest of the solid color balls. "Smoked," Sully said smugly as he pocketed the eight ball and blew on the tip of his cue.

Jess shook his head and hung his cue on the wall hook. "You want pizza?" he asked, already knowing the answer. Sully was a human vacuum cleaner. Because of their tight budget, they could only afford a pizza a week. Sully could easily eat a whole pizza in one sitting, as could Jess. Friday nights were the nights they coughed up the cash for take out, and Saturday nights where usually when they would work. They would grab a bite for free after the job, drink a couple of beers, and play some pool down the street.

"We have enough money?" Sully asked, opening his wallet. He brushed past the one dollar bills to find a five hidden in between. "I have ten."

Jess fished through his own wallet with the knowledge that they would not be going out after work on Saturday. "Twenty. You paid for pool and beer. I'll get the pizza and sodas."

"Deal." Sully shoved his wallet back in his pocket while they left the bowling alley for Mike's. It was the main choice, considering they still had a discount after hours.

After ordering, Jess and Sully sat at their usual table while they sipped their sodas.

"You want to talk about Rory?" Sully asked as he glanced up at Jess. He noticed the hardened expression that crossed his brown eyes. "What?"

"What?" Jess asked.

"You. You just gave me that "shut the fuck up Sully I don't want to talk about it" look. You were all up in arms about the chick earlier. What changed?" Sully folded his arms and waited for his friend to talk.

"It's nothing," Jess responded quickly.

"Doesn't seem like nothing. She ran out of there like someone lit her ass on fire," Sully reminded him.

Jess lowered his head to the table until his forehead hit the surface. He mumbled something and then looked back up at Sully. "I fucked up with her," he said finally.

"Do tell." Sully straightened up and smiled expectantly.

"Not if you're going to be a smug bastard about it," Jess said, turning away.

"Hey, that's not how I operate." Sully frowned. "Seriously, man. We've been friends for so long that you can't push past this shit. We both fucked up, when you look at it. Nothing you did you did could have been that bad."

"I flunked out of high school, fought her ex-boyfriend, and ran out on her and my uncle without a word. I promised to take her to prom, but it was never an option. Oh, and I tried to force her into sex even though she wasn't ready." Jess ticked each deed off on his fingers and then looked away glumly.

"Wow, uh." Sully scratched his head. "Dude, that's not too bad if you look at it…"

"I have looked at it. I'm surprised she even wanted to talk to me."

"Well, uh…"

"Sully!" Both friends jumped as the pizza hit the counter.

I'll, uh, get that," Sully said nervously.

They ate the pizza silently, as neither one dared to speak. When they were ready to leave, they both dumped the trash and continued silently to the apartment.

* * *

"Fancy meeting you here," Jess said smugly as he looked up from his book.

"Oh, Jess. Hi, I just…" Rory shifted her bag nervously as she settled across from Jess.

"You just what?" Jess asked, snapping his book shut.

"I just," Rory started again and then cut herself off. "Why are you always here?"

"Here? On this train? Or here with you?" Jess asked.

"I don't know," she said quietly. "But I just can't get away from you."

"I haven't heard from you since you ran out on me Thursday afternoon. It's Monday," Jess said pointedly, crossing his right leg over his left.

Rory shifted uncomfortably in her seat. "Why did you kiss me?" she asked.

"Why did you run off?" he shot back.

"Why did you kiss me?" she asked again.

"Why did you run off?" Jess repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Rory twisted her lips. "Why does it matter?"

"Because it does!" he responded, raising his voice. Standing, Jess held the metal railing and started for the doors that were about to open at Kendall Square station. "Forget it. I don't have time for this shit." The doors opened and Rory paused before collecting her things and barreling after Jess.

"Wait! Jess!" she yelled after him as he walked away.

He pretended not to hear her as he picked up the pace. If he had to leave the station and pay again to get back in, he would. All Jess wanted was to lose Rory in the crossfire.

"Jess!" she pleaded, starting to walk faster after him on the platform. He still failed to turn around. Rory processed her thoughts quickly as she broke into a run and pushed Jess against the wall. He looked in her emotionally charged eyes, but didn't try to shove past her. Their eyes connected briefly before Rory leaned in and wrapped her arms around Jess, kissing him adamantly and holding him close. Jess kissed back and dropped his bag on the platform while Rory's teeth tugged at his lower lip. Slowly, they broke away. The anger had flowed out of both their eyes, and they stood calmly against the dingy station wall.

He smiled crookedly at Rory before pulling her back in an embrace, kissing her until she felt weak in the knees and dropped her own bag with a thud on the platform.


	10. Return of Bookmark Chick

Thanks for the reviews on chapter nine: DiehardJavaJunkie14, krymsunkiss52, GrlWithoutAName, I-luv-jess-mariano, Curley-Q, ShaolinQueen, Jeremy Shane, lillitgirlx2, cmtaylor531, gilmorefanforever, and lotzaluv. I don't have the time to use review reply at the moment but, as soon as I do, I'll start personally replying again.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, well…that's not true. I actually own Sully. Ha.

* * *

**Return of Bookmark Chick**

"Jess!" Sully howled from the bathroom. "Jess!" He slammed the door and scurried to his friend's bedroom. Usually, Jess was an early riser and would be eating breakfast in the kitchen. He had obviously gotten home late the previous night because his bedroom door was still closed. "Oh, whoa. Not Jess." He backed away from the sleeping girl curled up in Jess's bed. He scampered out of the bedroom and collided with Jess as he walked through the front door, knocking the Dunkin' Donuts box out of his hands.

"Christ! What the hell is wrong with you?" Jess asked as he placed the box of doughnuts on the table. He opened the box to make sure all the doughnuts were intact. Eyeing his jumpy friend, Jess crossed his arms across his chest.

"Spider!" Sully said frantically, pointing to the bathroom and grabbing Jess's arm.

Jess laughed. "You have to be kidding me. All these years and you're still afraid of spiders?"

"Just kill it!" Sully begged, pulling Jess in the direction of the bathroom.

Sighing, Jess allowed himself to be yanked across the apartment to the bathroom. He eyed the spider crawling along the marbled sink. Jess ripped off a sheet of toilet paper from behind the door and squished the spider between his two fingers. "There you go. Problem solved." Jess dropped the piece of tissue in the basket and shoved Sully out the door.

"Bookmark Chick is in your bed," Sully said.

Jess nodded. "You didn't wake her up, did you?"

Sully scratched his head. "I, uh, don't think I did."

"Okay." Jess pat Sully on the back. "You know what happened on Monday, so I really don't need to explain this to you. Right?"

"Right," Sully responded. "Should I leave or something? We never constructed a girl policy." He pulled a kitchen chair away from the table and sat down.

"Hey, your apartment. Don't go anywhere. I picked up three Boston Crème doughnuts. I know they're your favorite." Jess smiled crookedly and started to head back to his room.

Sully shuffled over to the coffee maker and started scooping the coffee grounds into the filter. He remembered Jess telling him that Rory loved coffee, so he scraped twice as much coffee out of the can.

Rory was sitting up in bed when Jess kicked his sneakers aside. "You're all dressed," she said as she stretched.

Jess climbed back into his bed with Rory and kissed her on the lips. "I ran out and bought some doughnuts at Dunkin's. Sully is making the coffee now if you want some breakfast."

"Okay." Rory pulled off the blankets and swung her legs out of the bed. "You're sure he's fine with me being here?"

"He doesn't mind," Jess reassured her and kissed her on the lips again.

Sully was standing in the middle of the kitchen humming while he waited for the coffee to brew. "Rory, is it?" he asked as he reached into the cabinet for three coffee mugs.

"Rory," she nodded. "I know we never formally met."

"Well, it's nice that you can meet him while he's wearing pants," Jess joked as he separated three paper plates from the stack on the counter.

"Boston Crème!" Sully exclaimed as he opened the box of doughnuts. He reached over and hugged Jess's arm. Rory observed the scene in the kitchen while she stood off to the side. "Come on, Rory. You don't need to feel out of place," Sully reassured with a smile and handed her a paper plate. "I don't bite."

Jess grinned. "You can't be intimidated by a nineteen year old guy that's afraid of spiders." He punched his friend lightly on the shoulder. "I bought chocolate frosted with sprinkles especially for you," he said as the coffee pot stopped brewing. "And as a bonus, Sully makes really great coffee."

Sully portioned out the coffee while Rory selected her doughnut out of the box and sat down next to Jess at the table. "So, Rory," he started, serving the coffee and sitting down with his own breakfast, "tell me about you."

Rory glanced over at Jess. "What's this one told you already?" she asked.

Disapprovingly, Jess looked at Sully. He didn't want Rory to know what Sully was aware of in their past relationship. "Not much. You read, you drink coffee, you like The Clash. Other than that, I've been left in the dark," he said before sipping his coffee.

"There's not much to know," Rory said honestly. "I'm a journalism major at Harvard University. I live with my mom in a small town in Connecticut. What about you?" she asked. "Jess hasn't really educated me on all that is Sully."

Sully chuckled and wiped the cream filling off his upper lip. "Well, my name isn't Sully. It's short for my last name, which is Sullivan. Everyone used to call me Corey, which is my first name, but then it somehow transformed to just Sully. Stop me if I start talking too much. I tend to do that a lot." He paused to scratch his head. "You already know of my love of sports. I'm an engineering major at Emerson. Jess got me into reading when we were younger, so I love that. I don't get to read a lot with school, but I love it."

"Please don't tell me you like Hemingway, then," Rory groaned, shooting a glance at Jess.

"What's wrong with Hemingway? I love Hemingway."

"I guess that solves the mystery of how Jess has a friend," Rory joked.

"Thanks," Jess grumbled, brushing the crumbs off his hand.

"I like her," Sully laughed, pushing his chair away from the table to stand up. "I have to work early today. I'm going to take a shower. Anyone need the bathroom first?"

Rory and Jess shook their heads and Sully headed to the bathroom. "You seem to be relaxing," Jess said.

"It's still weird. It's the first time I've ever spent the night with you."

Jess nodded. "Sully really is okay with you being here. It's the first time he's ever asked if someone needed the bathroom before he took a shower." He slung his arm around Rory and she moved her chair closer to him. "This is nice."

"Really nice," Rory agreed. Jess tipped up Rory's chin and kissed her.

"Jess! Spider!"

* * *

"Happy Thanksgiving!" Luke greeted Rory as she burst through the diner.

"I missed this place so much!" Rory said as she hugged Luke.

Lorelai sat at the table that had been set for the three of them. Luke filled the coffee cups sitting on the table and brought out the three plates filled with their Thanksgiving feast.

"You'll never guess who called me this morning," Luke said as they started their dinner.

"Jess?" Rory asked as she cut into a piece of turkey.

"How did you know?" Luke asked before shoveling a forkful of corn in his mouth.

"Luke," Rory started as she set her utensils down next to her plate, "I was waiting for today to tell you this." After a pause, "Jess and I are dating again."

The tea in Luke's mouth splashed back in his cup. "_What?_ I thought Jess was in California or…somewhere."

Rory nodded. "He was in California for a few months when he started attending community college in Boston. We met up a couple times and then we decided to start dating."

Luke stared at Rory for a moment. "I don't know if I want to know the details." He shifted the mashed potatoes on his plate. "He called and apologized. It wasn't a long phone call. He said he was having Thanksgiving dinner with his roommate and he was cooking."

"Yeah. That's what they're doing this year," Rory said with a nod. "His roommate is that phantom best friend he used to talk about every once in a blue moon. I like him." She glanced over at her mother, who was hacking her turkey into smaller pieces. "You've been really quiet. What's bothering you?"

"Oh, nothing," Lorelai said.

"You're still not happy with the Jess situation, are you?" Rory accused.

"I never said anything about him." Lorelai held her hands up defensively. "When I see a change in Jess for myself, then I'll believe it."

"Fine," Rory said as they continued the meal. They discussed school and life in Boston, but the topic of Jess was conveniently avoided.

* * *

Lorelai watched Rory read while she flipped through the television channels. "You're not going to talk to me?"

"I don't know," Rory said coldly. "You can't hang up on me, so what's the point?"

Lorelai flipped the television off and faced her daughter. "I'm sorry I hung up on you that time. It's just…"

"Jess. It's just Jess. You can say it. I know you don't approve of us restarting our relationship."

"I'm sorry," Lorelai said. "You knew how I felt about Jess the first time you started dating. I don't think he's the right kind of guy for you, but you're old enough to make your own choices. You're in college away from home, so I'm not going to interfere at all."

"Thank you," Rory said gratefully. Her cell phone started ringing and she identified it as Jess's ring tone. "It's Jess," she said quickly before picking it up. "Hi!" she greeted him before going to her room. "How was Thanksgiving dinner with Sully?"

"It wasn't bad," Jess said. "Sully managed to blow up the potatoes in the microwave, but that's beside the fact."

Rory laughed. "I miss you."

"I miss you, too. When are you coming back?" Jess asked.

"My mom is taking me up on Sunday."

"Good. Sully wants us to all get together when you're back. If that's okay with you."

Giggling, Rory threw herself across the bed. "Sully is pretty personable, isn't he?"

"Sully is a good friend," Jess said. "Weird, but good."

"Well, I can't wait to spend more time at your apartment." Rory smiled and examined her nails. It had been a long time since they had such a pleasant conversation on the phone. When they were dating in high school, Jess avoided calling her. This time around, Jess would call Rory just to say goodnight. They didn't live quite as close anymore, and both had different schedules to keep track.

"Anyway, I just wanted to say goodnight."

"Night," Rory said softly.

"See you soon." Rory tossed her cell phone at the end of her bed and stood. Looking at her closet, she decided there was something that needed to be done. The box wasn't hard to spot when she opened the closet. Carefully, Rory lifted the brown box from the top shelf. In neat black script, **Jess** was written across the top flap. Rory grabbed a pair of scissors and broke through the packing tape.

It had been months since Rory had seen any of the objects that resided in the box, and it was definitely time to reclaim them. As she lifted the flaps, she found CDs that had been missing since the end of her senior year. Books with precise notes in the margins were slipped down the sides of the box and caught in the fabric of her bridesmaid dress. Sighing, Rory hugged the dress against her skin. A few months ago, she had no desire to see the items. She didn't know what was in store for her. Now, she couldn't wait to continue her life in Boston with Jess.


	11. Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty

Right now, the story is centered on Jess and Rory's day-to-day life and how they adjust to each other. Hope you enjoy it.

It's taken eleven chapters to find someone to "play" Sully in **Meetings In a Subway Car**, but I've finally discovered someone right for the job. In my profile, you'll find two links for pictures. I hope you're pleasantly surprised at least. I thought everyone, including me, could do with a visual.

Thanks for the reviews on chapter ten: DiehardJavaJunkie14, Jeremy Shane, lillitgirlx2, swimmerluver, imcck, Lynn, gilmorefanforever, I-luv-jess-mariano, Curley-Q, ShaolinQueen, and bartocorleone.

Disclaimer: Still not mine. I don't own anything mentioned in this chapter except Sully. He's all mine, but I'll share if asked nicely.

* * *

**Good Morning, Sleeping Beauty**

Jess cuddled Rory's frame closer to his as he looked up at the bright numbers on his alarm clock. It was set to ring in forty minutes but, per usual, Jess was already awake. Usually, he would be out of bed in order to fix breakfast and get an early start on the day. Moving to California had disrupted his sleep cycle and, even though he had been in Boston for a couple of months, Jess was still accustomed to waking up early. Rather than get his things together for the day, Jess sighed and enjoyed the moment he was in with Rory.

He had the girl. Rory seemed to always be a loyal part in his life, and he hoped to hang onto her for a long time to come. No matter what happened, she always seemed to work herself back into his mind.

He had the best friend. Despite their differences and the fact that he snored like a tractor, Sully was special to Jess as well. He may have his odd quirks, but he was always there for Jess when he needed a friend.

He had the grades. Jess had never been one for school, but there was something about college that made him enjoy it. He couldn't figure out if it was the freedom, the fact that he was paying for it out of his own pocket, or that his classes on English and literature made him dive deeper into studying.

He had the life. It didn't matter that the girl probably still wondered how much he had actually changed. It didn't matter that his best friend pranced around the living room in his Red Sox boxers when he was overly excited, or that he never had any of his own soda to drink, or that they lived in a run down apartment where you could hear the trains if you listened close enough. All that mattered to Jess was that his life was starting to piece itself back together before his eyes and, that sometimes; it was a good idea to turn off the alarm clock. So he did.

* * *

Rory loved waking up next to Jess in the morning. It was a new twist on their rekindled relationship. Most of the time, Jess would already be out of bed an in the kitchen. He had a habit of waking up before the alarm clock, throwing on a shirt, and shuffling out to the kitchen in search of ingredients to make breakfast. As much as she loved waking up to the scent of blueberry pancakes, she preferred to wake up to the familiar smell of hair gel and light cologne.

On Wednesdays, their classes wouldn't start until late afternoon. Rory accepted that as an opportunity to stay and the Sully-Mariano apartment on Tuesday night. She had always been a fan of sleeping late, and she could think of nothing better than being cuddled up with Jess at eleven o'clock in the morning. That was, if he hadn't dressed and started his day. He usually didn't have the heart to wake her, and she didn't usually hear the alarm clock when it buzzed on the opposite side of the bed.

That Wednesday morning, it was different. Rory peered up at the alarm after noticing she was still tangled in Jess's arms. It was nearing eleven thirty and Jess was still asleep, snoring peacefully. Smiling, Rory realized she didn't get to watch Jess in his most vulnerable state very often. She sat up and winced as the sheets covering them crinkled.

He was adorable when he slept. Rory didn't usually get to see his hair after the gel had faded and his locks had been tousled by the sheets and pillows. His hair stuck up in several more directions than it did when it was tamed. Giggling under her breath, Rory ran her eyes down his toned body and back up to his face.

Jess smiled when he was sleeping. It had surprised her at first, since it was hard to work a smile out of him on a daily basis. His lips were parted ever so slightly, but there was no mistaking the smile that graced them.

"Hey," he said hoarsely, his voice still scratchy with sleep. Jess reached up and rubbed the palm of his hand against his morning stubble. Rory had recognized it as a morning habit, and had gotten used to Jess rubbing his face until he finally shaved. Rory smiled and nestled her head against his chest. "It's late," he stated, the scratchiness still present in his voice. Jess fumbled with the alarm clock until it fell down the back of his nightstand. Groaning, he pressed the heel of his palm in his eye and struggled to sit up. They sat in bed silently until Jess stretched and tried to blink the groggy sleep from his eyes. "Hungry? You want breakfast?" he asked, clearing his throat. His voice was still heavy with sleep, a clever indicator that he had been in bed longer than usual.

Nodding, "I'm hungry." Rory stretched and grabbed her jeans off the floor. Slipping them on, she noticed Jess opening his dresser drawer.

"C'm'ere," he ordered. Rory buttoned her jeans and walked around the bed. There was an empty section in one of his three drawers. She looked at him questioningly, still in her morning funk. "Space for you. If you want it," he said carefully. "You're always forgetting something." He smiled crookedly as Rory stood on her toes to kiss him.

"It's nice. Thanks," she said, letting her hand linger on his bare chest.

"So, breakfast?" he asked, grabbing a grey t-shirt from the pile of clothes near the door and slipping it over his head. The shirt straightened his hair out a bit before Jess grabbed the comb from his dresser and started to hack through his messy locks. Ruthlessly, he tugged at the comb and worked it though his hair until it looked mildly presentable. "Breakfast?" he asked again, setting the comb back on his dresser.

Rory shook the sleep from her eyes and looked back at Jess. "Yeah, breakfast." She pressed her hand against her rumbling stomach as Jess opened his door to the living room.

"Good morning, sleeping beauty," Sully said as he looked up from his paper. "And Rory. Hi there." He looked back at the paper and took another swig of the coffee that was next to him.

Jess scowled as he walked over to the pot of coffee. He grabbed two mugs out of the cabinet while Rory sat down across from Sully. "Bacon and eggs?" he asked while delivering Rory's coffee to the table. Rory nodded as she took her first sips of the morning coffee.

Jess frowned and bustled through the refrigerator in search of eggs. "I could have sworn…" He straightened up and scratched the back off his neck. "Did you make scrambled eggs or something this morning?" he asked Sully.

"Please, you know I couldn't beat an egg unless you gave me a chicken and a baseball bat." Sully glanced up from the sports section in his paper at Jess. "You're sure they're not in the back?"

"No. They're not." Jess moved a few items out of his way before producing a carton of pre-made pancake mix. "How about pancakes for dummies?" he asked, showing Rory the carton of Aunt Jemimah's.

"Hey! I resent that. Now you can't use my pancake batter!" Sully sprung up from his chair and grabbed the carton from Jess, causing him to drop it on the floor. "Aw, crap," Sully said sadly as he watched the batter ooze across the floor. "You're cleaning that up." He pointed a finger at Jess and shoved his smirking friend lightly. Jess lost his footing and slipped in the pancake batter, taking Sully down with him.

At the opposite side of the kitchen, Rory sipped her coffee and attempted to hold in her laughter. Giggling into the cup, she turned her head as Sully slapped a fistful of gooey batter on Jess's head. She watched as the thick pancake mix started to creep down past Jess's hairline and dribble down the bridge of his nose. Spitting the coffee back in her cup, Rory set it down on the table to grab the boys some paper towels.

Jess scowled as Rory attempted to wipe the batter off his head. She rolled off another three paper towels and Sully started to wipe the mess off the floor. "I'm taking a shower now," Jess grumbled, throwing the mucky paper towels in the trash. Sully groaned and accepted a new bunch of paper towels from Rory.

"So you and Jessie boy…hmm?" he asked, scooping the mess into the trashcan.

Rory blushed and stood aside when Sully wiped the area in front of the refrigerator with a sponge. "Yeah. It's…great."

"Looks like it. I've never seen Mariano smile so damn much in one day." Sully smirked as he wiped the pancake batter off his knee. "Nice having you around, too." He sipped the coffee that remained in his mug and flipped the paper back open as he sat.

"Is there anything you can tell me about Jess?" Rory asked as she absentmindedly twirled her coffee cup.

"Other than he's crazy about you?" Sully looked up from the paper and grinned. "Because he is."

"It's…yeah. I think he is." Rory blushed and drained the rest of her own coffee.

"Ah. Modesty. I love that in a girl." Sully chuckled and continued to flip the pages in the newspaper. "Arts and Leisure?" he asked, handing over the section he had just passed.

"Oh, sure." She opened up the section of the paper and started scanning it.

"I have class in an hour, as usual. You two going to behave if I leave now?" Sully smirked again and closed the newspaper. "I'm just going to change and I'm out," he announced as Rory nodded.

"Okay. I'll see you later," she said meekly as he disappeared into his room to change for class.

* * *

Jess had just zipped the fly of his stone wash jeans when his cell phone began to ring on the nightstand. Groaning, he eyed the familiar number and debated whether to answer. Finally, he hit the send button to take the call. "Hello?"

"Jess. Good. It's you."

"Hi, Luke," he said cautiously, sitting on the bed.

"Jess."

"We've made the acknowledgements. What's up? Why are you calling me?" Jess asked as he leaned back on the bed.

"Oh, you know. Just checking up."

"Okay…" Jess scratched his hand through his damp hair and visualized patterns on his ceiling. Now that he was pancake batter free, he wanted to make Rory some breakfast so they could get on with the day before classes.

"You're, ah, not doing anything for Christmas, are you?" Luke asked nervously.

"No. I'll probably spend break with my roommate in the apartment. Why?" he demanded.

"Just…wondering."

"My ass. What do you want, Luke?" Jess demanded again.

"I was wondering if you wanted to spend Christmas break in Stars Hollow. You'd get to see Rory that way," Luke said, grasping at straws.

Jess sighed. "I don't know. My friend doesn't have anywhere to go, and I'd hate to have him spend Christmas tucked up in this rundown piece of crap."

"So bring him with you."

"You're sure?" Jess asked, shocked at the invitation and gratitude.

"Yeah."

"What's this?" Jess asked.

"What's what?" Luke asked in return.

"You know. The invitation. The whole taking me under your wing."

"You called. I thought I'd give you the benefit of the doubt," Luke responded.

"Ah, okay." Jess nodded and walked over to the closet. "I'll call you back after I talk to my friend." Jess hit the off button before Luke could reply. Quickly, he grabbed a button down shirt from the closet and walked into the kitchen while sliding his arms in the sleeves. "So, what do you think about Poptarts?" he asked, startling Rory.

"Poptarts are great," she said, shutting the Arts and Leisure section of the paper.

"Okay. Coming right up." Jess paused to kiss the top of Rory's head before padding barefoot to the cabinet.


	12. Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow

Well, today I went to the Red Sox game and then Harvard Square. It made me think of this story and I wanted to make sure this chapter was posted before the apocalypse. Sorry for the wait, but I think I'm back on track now. Phew.

Thanks for the reviews on chapter eleven: felineofoz, DiehardJavaJunkie14, Lynn, gilmorefanforever, lillitgirlx2, Curley-Q, krymsunkiss52, Jeremy Shane, ShaolinQueen, and Djux.

Disclaimer: Anything recognizable belongs to somebody with a different name.

* * *

**Let it Snow, Let it Snow, Let it Snow**

"Tell me again why you invited Jess and his friend for Christmas," Lorelai requested as she finished her last French fry.

"Because Jess has straightened himself out and he's family," Luke explained again. "Why are you so affected by this?"

"He's going to be around," Lorelai tried to clarify haphazardly, flailing her arms.

Luke sighed and gripped his hat. "I don't know why I bother dealing with you," he huffed. "You need to learn to deal with Jess. He's different now. Get used to it."

"Fine," Lorelai snapped.

"You just don't like that he's dating Rory again," Luke bit back, grabbing her plate off the counter.

"No, I don't like it," Lorelai agreed sharply. "It's always the same thing with Jess. First he's nice, then he's a jerk, and then he just takes off."

"It's not the same thing this time." Luke shook his head. "I know him better than you. And if it bothers you that much, then you don't have to come to dinner or eat here until he's gone."

"Fine with me." Lorelai tossed her napkin on the counter and grabbed her purse.

"Fine!"

"Fine!" Lorelai turned on her heel and stormed out of the diner, giving the door a hearty slam behind her.

As soon as Lorelai arrived back home, her cell phone began to ring. "Hello?"

"Hi, Mom."

"Hi, Rory!" Lorelai plopped down on the couch and hurled her high heels aside. "What's going on?"

"Just wanted to say hi," Rory said.

"Okay. What time am I supposed to get you tomorrow?" Lorelai asked. She spread herself out on the couch and tossed her feet up on the opposite headrest.

"Any time before eight o'clock tomorrow night." Rory studied her hand and pulled at a stray hangnail. "So, about the holiday…"

"I'm not taking Jess tomorrow," Lorelai cut in quickly.

"I didn't ask you to," Rory said sharply. "His break isn't for a couple more days."

"I bet you're probably over there now, then."

"What if I am?" Rory challenged.

"Isn't he getting in the way of your studies?" Lorelai asked. "You're always over there and staying overnight."

"Mom, I don't get it. Why are you always questioning me about Jess?" Rory sighed and collapsed on the bed.

"I don't like him," Lorelai said.

"And you've made that abundantly clear," Rory said under her breath.

"Jess is Jess, okay? I don't see him any different and I don't want to see you fall prey to him again."

"Mom, I don't need you looking out for me. I'm nineteen. I'm going to be fine. Just…talk to Jess. You'll see. He's really flipped his priorities. He's going to school and he has other people to talk to."

"Okay," Lorelai relented. "But if he's the same, I'm still going to be concerned about you."

"Fair enough." Rory fingered the edge of the pillowcase and turned over on her side.

"Tomorrow I'll be at Harvard around seven so you can have some more time with Jess." Lorelai smiled and sat up on the couch.

"Thanks, Mom. I love you."

"Love you, too. I'll see you tomorrow."

Rory shut her cell phone and set it on the bed table. Jess poked his head into the doorway. "Hey. You off the phone?"

"Yeah, I'm all set." Rory slid of the bedspread and joined Jess by the door. "Sure you're okay with a trip to Stars Hollow?"

Nodding, "I get to see you, don't I?" Smirking, he slung his arm around her shoulder. "You know, that makes all the aggravation worth it."

"Such a sap," Rory teased, squeezing his side. "How's Sully doing with the idea?"

"Sully's excited, actually. I thought he'd be bummed, but he can't wait to get out of here and have a normal Christmas."

"Yeah." Rory studied the side wall. "I feel bad for him."

"It's okay. He's used to it and he isn't close to his father anyway."

"But still," Rory pleaded.

"His dad decided he didn't want anything to do with him." Shrugging, "He expected it."

"Okay," Rory said, thinking of her own father. She hadn't seen him in a long time either.

"Food?" Jess asked as they ventured into the kitchen.

"Food, definitely. I'm starving."

"As you should be." Laughing, Jess yanked open the oven door. He slid a pot mitt on his hand and took out the pan that was inside.

"What's that?" Rory asked, hovering over him.

"Chicken cutlet casserole." Jess fanned the steam from the casserole and reached up for two plates out of the cabinet. "Sound good?"

"Sounds great." Rory moved closer to Jess as he sliced into the casserole. "I've never had that before."

"Here you go." Jess loaded up Rory's plate and started filling up his own. "Let me know how it is." Rory grabbed both plates and while Jess busied himself with the sodas.

Setting the plates on the table, Rory took a seat. Jess grabbed the soda and silverware off the counter. "This is nice," Rory said as Jess handed her a fork.

"It's one of those nights where Sully is working and I'm not." Jess slid a bite of casserole in his mouth. "It's rare to have time alone with you."

"Wait until we get to Stars Hollow," Rory said. "Oh, wow." Sucking the gooey bite off her fork, she smiled in satisfaction. "You need to cook more often," she joked, shoving another chunk of casserole in her mouth.

"Glad you approve," Jess joked, popping open the top of his soda can.

"Where is Sully staying in Stars Hollow?" Rory asked between bites.

"Upstairs over the diner with me."

Choking, Rory swallowed quickly. "What? Where's Luke staying?"

"Upstairs."

"And where are you guys sleeping?" she asked.

"Well, I'm sleeping in my bed. Luke said it's still there. He'll sleep in his bed, because that should be a given. As for Sully, we were thinking about the couch. Although, the bathtub is pretty clean." Rory smacked his arm gently. "Hey."

"I want this to be good. My mom is having a hard time accepting your change in demeanor. Please prove her wrong?" Pleading with her eyes, Rory peered up at him from the table.

"I'll try," Jess promised, "but if Kirk or Taylor come too close, or Miss Patty tries to make a move, all bets are off!"

* * *

"I think if I threw a rock, it would hit the edge of town and bounce back before losing momentum." Staring dumbstruck into the distance, Sully dropped his bag on the ground.

Laughing, Jess shrugged his duffel bag higher on his shoulder and started walking. "Diner's this way," he said, jerking his thumb in the direction he was heading.

Still stunned, Sully looked up at the darkening sky and back at Jess. "You seriously lived here?" he asked.

"I did." He nodded. "Come on. It's cold."

They stepped up to the diner and the bell rang over head as they entered. Luke was ringing up a customer at the register. "You're here," he said simply, unsure of what to do next. Glancing from Jess to the redhead, he shut the register drawer. "I'm Luke," he said, extending his hand.

"Corey," he said as he shook. "Call me Sully."

"Sully?"

"Short for Sullivan. Last name." Sully adjusted his bag on his shoulder as Luke and Jess stood nervously off to the side.

"Jess," he said plainly, straightening his hat.

"Luke," he responded, shifting his weight nervously. He dropped his duffel bag and Luke hugged him briefly, adding a manly pat on the back.

"Do you want to put your things upstairs?" Luke asked. "I can make you something to eat."

Jess nodded. "I know my way." Sully followed him up the stairs with his bag.

"Man, this place is tiny," he said, glancing around. "We're staying here?"

Dropping his bag on the floor, Jess examined the room. Not much had changed in the apartment. A few of his things still littered the bookcases and his bedspread was still intact. "Couch is all yours."

Sully tossed his bag on the floor by the television. "Comfy."

"It's supposed to be snowing. Rory's happy." Jess sat next to Sully and tossed his feet up on the coffee table.

"She likes the snow?" Sully asked.

"Yeah. It gets too dirty in Boston to play with. Remember the first snow last week?"

"Really dirty," he agreed.

During their meal of cheeseburger and fries, the snow started to blanket over Stars Hollow. "Jeez." Luke cleared the plates off the adjacent table and glanced out the window. "It's really coming down." The ground coated with a thick layer of snow while they continued to pick at their fries. "Where's Rory tonight?" he asked.

"Friday night dinner, remember?" Jess reminded Luke.

"Oh, that's right." Luke nodded and leaned against the counter. "They shouldn't be driving in this weather."

"They'll be back soon," Jess said, dragging a fry through his puddle of ketchup.

"The snow is going to be knee-deep by then," Sully joked. "Dude," he said, smacking Jess's shoulder, "we need to build a snowman!"

Groaning, Jess dropped the remainder of the burger on his plate. "A snowman?"

"Hey, I've never had a yard and I've always lived in a city. Come on; let's play in the snow in the square." Sully tugged on Jess's sweatshirt sleeve.

As if on cue, Rory bounded through the diner door, sending the bell swinging. "Jess!" she squeaked. Just as he picked up the last bite, he had to drop the remainder of the burger once again.

"Hey. You're back." He stood to hug her and she giggled before smudging the ketchup off his lip with her thumb.

"It's snowing," she said, her eyes twinkling. "Come on. Let's go outside." She tugged on his sleeve.

"Finally someone that sees eye to eye with me!" Sully stood quickly and grabbed his jacket off the back of the chair.

"Come on, Jess, you're no fun." Rory pouted as she and Sully stood by the door waiting for him.

"Yeah, Jess. You're no fun," Sully whined.

Rolling his eyes, Jess finally ate the last bite of his burger. He shrugged on his leather jacket and joined them by the door. "Okay, okay. I'm coming."

The three trekked over to the center of town. Rory looked up at the snow-covered gazebo. "It's pretty, isn't it?"

"Pretty cool," Sully said. "Now, come on." He worked his way up the stairs and threw himself off the ledge into the snow. "Geronimo!" he yelled as he hit the snow.

Rory scrunched a fistful of snow into a ball. Shivering, Jess stood off to the side. He tucked his chin into his leather jacket just as Rory's snowball thwacked against the side of his head. Rory giggled as Jess ran a hand through his cold hair. "Hey," he complained. He bent down and gathered a ball of snow in his hands.

Rory didn't duck in time and the snowball bounced off her shoulder. Squealing, she was hit by two more snowballs; one snowball thrown by Jess and the other by Sully. "Two against one isn't fair!" she squeaked, gathering more snow in her hands.

Jess and Rory pelted Sully with their snowballs as he gripped his chest in false agony. "I'm wounded!" he howled before collapsing into the snow. Giggling, Rory started covering Sully's limbs with snow. Jess bent down and followed Rory's lead. They both laughed as Sully shook off the snow and stood back up. "Okay! Snowman time!" he exclaimed enthusiastically as he popped off the ground.

"Do my eyes deceive me or is that Jess Mariano building a snowman?" Lorelai asked as she slid onto a stool.

"It would seem so," he responded blankly after glancing out the window. "I'm surprised you're here."

"Well, the whole argument was stupid," Lorelai started.

"Rory talked to you, didn't she?" Luke asked as he poured her a cup of coffee.

Nodding pitifully, Lorelai grabbed her coffee mug. "She told me to talk to him."

"Oh, right. He's actually taken to full sentences lately."

"Impressive." Lorelai looked out the window at Rory, Jess, and the redhead she could only assume was Sully. Three little snowmen were lined up and lopsided by the gazebo. Rory had just pushed Jess and he had toppled over into Sully, knocking both of them into the snow. "They look like they're having fun. I never would have connected that with Jess."

"Yeah, he's really lightened up."

Lorelai continued to watch out the window as Jess gave Rory a piggyback ride. Maybe she had been wrong about him.


	13. Blood Brothers and Merry Christmas

It's Christmas in July! Well, only for us. On that note, merry first of July! Without further adieu, here's a sentimental holiday chapter.

Thanks for the reviews on chapter twelve: Kassandra27, ShaolinQueen, swimmerluver, DiehardJavaJunkie14, Curley-Q, Jeremy Shane, krymsunkiss52, gilmorefanforever, cmtaylor531, Djux, lillitgirlx2, and CherryWolf713.

Disclaimer: Nope. Still not mine. I just checked.

* * *

"Christmas is in four days," Sully reminded Jess again. He had been keeping a running countdown since July, informing Jess of the time spontaneously. Jess neglected to respond, so Sully continued. "What exactly are we doing for Christmas?" he asked.

Scratching his head, Jess looked up at Sully. "I'm not sure," he said honestly. "All I know is we're spending some time with Rory in the next few days."

"What about food?" Sully asked.

"We're in a _diner_." Jess rolled his eyes. "Luke is cooking and Lorelai and Rory will probably leech off him."

"So we're all eating together?" Sully asked.

"That would be the conclusion."

"What about presents?" Sully asked.

"What _about_ presents?"

"Did you buy any?" he asked.

"It's _Christmas_," Jess reminded him. "Of course I bought presents."

"Did you buy me a present?" Sully fished.

"Yes. I bought you a present," Jess said. "But I'll give it to someone else if you don't shut up."

"Sorry," Sully apologized, turning back to his laptop.

Jess turned his attention to the book he was reading. They were engaging in a bit of downtime while Luke closed the diner. For the past few days, Jess and Sully had been helping out downstairs. That night, Luke decided to give them a break by closing up alone.

"Did you buy Rory a present?" Sully asked suddenly.

"_Of course_ I bought Rory a present. She's my girlfriend."

"Right. That would make sense."

"Why are you talking so much?" Jess asked, closing the book and resting it on his thigh.

"Oh, well…" Sully scratched the back of his neck. "I don't know."

Jess drummed his fingers on the cover of his book. "Seriously. The sooner you talk about this, the sooner I can read."

"Right." Sully closed the cover of his laptop. "Man, I'm jealous. Okay?"

"Jealous?" Jess fought a laugh. "Jealous of what? Me?"

"Dude, you have a family. You have Rory."

"And you. Which automatically means you have me," Jess pointed out, tossing the book on the coffee table.

Sully sighed. "Yeah. I guess."

"Okay. This is getting old."

"I just…I don't have anyone…"

"Except me," Jess cut in. "And you know, Rory's pretty partial to you."

"Oh?" Sully smiled. "So I'm not a third wheel?"

Jess groaned. "You were _never_ a third wheel."

"Okay." Sully opened his laptop back up and his fingers flew across the keys. "We're blood brothers," Sully reminded him. Flipping his hand over, he examined the faint scar that marred his pink skin.

Rolling his eyes, Jess eyed his own scar. "Right. Blood brothers." He smirked and traced the little white line that shot across his palm. "We were stupid little kids."

"But we had fun," Sully reminded him.

"Didn't say anything to the contrary."

"We were pretty messed up. We did slice our palms open with a jackknife." Sully ruffled his red hair and glanced around the room.

Shrugging, Jess picked his book off the table. "I don't regret it."

Sully smiled. "Neither do I."

* * *

"Merry Christmas!" Rory's cheeks were flushed and pink from the cold. She handed Jess three wrapped packages and he set them under the little tree Luke finally put up with their help.

"Merry Christmas," he whispered, pulling off her knitted hat. "Where's your mom?"

"Downstairs with Luke. They're trying to convince Kirk to go home." Rory smiled and slid her puffy winter jacket off. Jess tossed it with the rest of the coats and they joined Sully on the sofa.

Sully, as usual, was perusing a Red Sox website on his laptop. "What are you doing?" Jess asked as he watched Sully's fingers fly over the plastic keyboard.

"Posting."

"Posting what?" Rory asked.

"Season predictions." Sully tapped the enter key and scrolled down the page.

"Like winter?" Rory asked, leaning over Jess to see the screen.

"Baseball season," he responded, throwing his fingers into full throttle against the keyboard.

"Didn't that just end?" Jess asked.

"Spring training is soon. Lots of trades and stuff going on. The usual."

"Right." Jess and Rory nodded, even though they still had no idea what Sully was doing.

Luke and Lorelai burst through the door before Sully could inform them about the Red Sox. Lorelai dropped her tiny package with the rest under the tree and Luke checked the roast in the oven.

Luke turned his head in Jess's direction. "You checked this, didn't you?"

"You were gone a long time." Jess shrugged.

"And you stirred…"

"You were gone a long time."

Luke shook his head. "Dinner is going to be ready in about an hour," he announced.

"Ooh! Presents!" Lorelai exclaimed with a smile. She sat on the end of Luke's bed while he sorted the gifts into little piles.

"How are we doing this?" Luke asked as he handed out the presents from under the tree. He had never opened gifts with so many people at one time.

"By age?" Lorelai suggested.

"Alphabetical order?" Jess suggested skeptically.

"I know!" Sully shouted, causing Jess to chuckle. He knew what was coming next. "Whoever's grandmother lives closest to Toledo!"

Rory laughed faintly into her hand and quickly turned it into a cough.

"Where the hell is Toledo?" Luke asked.

"Ohio!" Sully exclaimed.

"And let me guess, your grandmother lives in Toledo?" Luke asked, raising his eyebrow.

"Damn. I've been here for too long." Sully snapped his fingers in mock frustration and sat back on the sofa.

"Why don't we go around in a circle so we can see everyone's presents?" Rory suggested timidly, fingering the curled bow on one of her packages.

"Sounds good." Jess nodded and squeezed Rory's knee.

The three teenagers were allowed to dig into their packages before Luke and Lorelai. Rory yanked the bow off the slim package from Luke. Ripping open the envelope, she found a twenty five-dollar gift card to Barnes and Noble. "Wow. Luke…thanks." A sheen of blush spread across her cheeks.

On Luke's glance, Jess lifted the large box off the floor. "Luke," he warned, tearing the paper gently with his finger.

"I thought it was practical." Luke shrugged as Jess balled up the paper and tossed it in the paper bag next to the couch.

"Luke, it's too much," he said, tracing his thumb over the tiny Dell logo on the side.

"I was going to write you a check," he said, "but I knew you didn't have a computer. You need a computer for school."

Nodding, Jess smiled and picked at the tape. "We'll set it up later?" he asked.

"We'll set it up later," Luke promised.

Moving down the line, Sully ripped into a package with his name scrawled in Jess's handwriting. "The Sims 2?" he asked, ripping the plastic around the box.

Jess smirked. "You've mentioned it before." Sully lunged at his friend, giving him a hug and a brief pat on the back.

"Yes! Now my Sims can die in three-D!"

Curiously, Lorelai reached for the lone package in her pile. "You got me a present," she said, smiling.

"Yeah, well." Luke rubbed the back of his neck. "Didn't want you to feel left out."

"Believe me, she didn't feel left out this morning," Rory interjected, shooting her mother a glare.

"I'm a spoiled momma," she joked, tearing the paper on the present. She flung the paper aside before looking at the design on the box. "Hello Kitty?" she asked, diving into the box and pulling out a pink travel mug.

"Seemed appropriate," Luke said, brushing her off with a shrug.

"Hey, Luke?" Jess interrupted as his uncle reached for the blue envelope that he had scrawled his name on two hours ago.

"What?" he asked gruffly, picking at the tape.

"Can you maybe…open that later?" he requested softly.

"Uh, sure." Luke tucked the envelope in his pocket and ripped the paper off the Jimmy Buffet CD and Red Sox magazine that Rory and Lorelai had wrapped together to disguise the contents. He smiled at both the Gilmore Girls, muttered his thanks, and left the room to check on the roast.

Lorelai followed him as Rory, Jess, and Sully continued their circle of presents. "I just wanted them to have some privacy," she claimed as the trio burst into laughter. She turned around in time to see Sully press the tiny bows Rory had adhered to his package on his shirt, over his nipples.

"Ribbon boobies!" he laughed as Jess knocked his fist into his shoulder.

Rory grinned and ripped the bow of the present Jess had bought for her and pressed the ribbon puff on his swell of gelled hair. While Sully immersed himself in the baseball cards Rory had purchased for him, Jess dipped down to kiss Rory tenderly on the lips. "Open it," he pressed as she slipped her fingernail under the tape.

He had wrapped as much scotch tape around the paper openings as he could. Aware that he was a sucky wrapper, Jess needed to cover it up by making the package hard to open. "What's this, a whole roll of tape?" Rory asked as she ripped another strip of sticky plastic away from the snowy paper.

Jess smirked as she finally worked the remnants of the tape and paper away from box it coated. "You like it?" he asked as she stared at the peach and silver box.

"It's a camera," she said curiously. "You got me a camera?"

"You don't like it?" he asked cautiously. "I thought you wanted a camera."

"I did!" Rory exclaimed. "And I love it. It's great," she continued. "I just didn't want you to spend so much money on me."

"Hey. I wanted to." Jess straightened the red bow perched on the top of his head.

"Well, now you have to open this." Rory thrust the package on his lap. She smiled while thumbing the crease in the camera box.

"Okay," he consented, peeling off the bow and sticking it to Rory's forehead. Laughing delicately, Rory pressed the ribbon until it stuck to her skin fully.

"Come on. Open it!" she forced, helping him rip the paper.

"Pu_shy_." Jess swatted her hand away and tore flipped the cover of the box open to find another wrapped package. "What is this?" he asked. "A Matreshka or something?"

Rory laughed. "No. You would have figured out what it was if I didn't wrap it twice."

"Okay." Jess unwrapped the second package to find an old, delicate book with letters scrawled in gold type. "Jesus, Rory. Is this a first edition?"

Grinning madly, Rory threw her arms around her boyfriend's neck. "Yes! Do you like it?" she asked hesitantly.

"Of course I do," he said with a tiny smirk gracing his lips. Again, he swooped down for a kiss and the bow drooped from his hair.

* * *

After dinner, a round of pictures were taken with Rory's new camera. Sully's "ribbon boobies" were caught on film for future humiliation, as was Jess's new hairdo. As promised, Jess and Luke sat on the living room floor after Rory and Lorelai left and tinkered with the new laptop. It blared to life and Luke smiled slightly at his nephew. He had really changed, and he was actually enjoying the young man's company this time around.

"Luke?" Jess asked while they were downloading software.

"Hmm?" Luke mumbled in response as he placed another disc in the optical drive.

"You can, uh, open that envelope now." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. Pausing, Luke dug the present out of his pocket and turned to look at Jess. "It's not a lot," he said carefully as Luke ripped the seam of the envelope.

A personal check fluttered from the confines and Luke's eyes darted over the amount. "Jess, you didn't have to…"

"It's for, you know." Jess shrugged. "Sorry I didn't pay you back sooner." He paused. "And sorry I didn't get you anything else." A frown formed on his lips as Luke continued to stare at the check.

"Tell you what," Luke said. "It doesn't matter." And with that, he tore the check in half.


	14. Never a Dull Moment

Thanks for the reviews on chapter thirteen: lillitgirlx2, ShaolinQueen, Curley-Q, DiehardJavaJunkie14, gilmorefanforever, Jeremy Shane, Kassandra27, Lucy, DontHoldBack09, and rocknflorida4lif.

Disclaimer: I'm the proud owner of Sully and a brand spankin' new MacBook Pro, but that's about it.

* * *

**Never a Dull Moment**

"The kitchen, the window in the kitchen," Jess shouted as he and Rory scampered around, shutting windows. It had been raining softly for most of the day, but the sky had just opened up and it was pouring in different directions.

"The one in the kitchen!" Rory shouted across the apartment as the rain blew through the screen at her face. The window slammed shut and she leaned against the counter.

Jess sighed. "That's all of them."

"I doesn't look like we'll be going in town for the New Year's celebration," Rory grumbled, grabbing a coffee filter out of the bag. "You want some?" she asked, peeling back the lid on the coffee canister.

"No, it's okay. Drink all my coffee." Jess smirked and kissed Rory on the nose. "We can follow Sully to Ben's New Year's Eve party."

Rory nodded and pressed the start button on the coffee maker. "That could be fun," she mused.

"Yeah, it will be," Jess said, opening the refrigerator door. He selected a can of soda and popped up the tab. They stood silently by the kitchen counter as Rory's coffee brewed.

"When's Sully getting home?" she asked, grabbing the mug Jess had set aside for her to use.

"Less than an hour," Jess said before taking a long sip from the open tab. "I'm surprised we got away with not working late on New Year's."

"Yeah," Rory agreed. "But you're working tomorrow, aren't you?"

"January first is just a day. Tonight's the big deal."

"Well, okay." Rory poured her cup of coffee and set the pot back on the hotplate. "What do you want to do before Sully gets back?"

Jess smirked in response.

"Perv. I know what you want to do." Rory stuck her tongue out at him and sat down at the kitchen table. Jess joined her after grabbing a bag of Cooler Ranch Doritos off the counter.

"We could just do this." He shrugged, undoing the bag clip on the Doritos. He spilled some chips out on a napkin and slid the paper over to Rory.

"Thanks," she beamed, biting off a corner of the triangle.

Sully burst through the door of the apartment with his sweatshirt pulled over his hair. The rain had soaked all his clothes and he was shivering. "Warmth!" he bellowed, flinging his body over the radiator. "You're so pretty," he cooed to the metal heater.

"Sully, that's not a good idea…" Jess started.

"Ow!" Sully backed away from the radiator clutching his arm. "Bad Sheila!" he scolded the radiator.

"Sheila?" Rory asked, squinting.

"He decided to name random objects in the apartment."

"Oh, like my mom does." She smiled.

"But they're all named after characters from Red vs. Blue and Adult Swim shows." Jess rolled his eyes. "You okay?" he yelled across the apartment to where his friend was dumping his wet clothes.

"Jess! Where are my pants?" Sully asked, digging through his bucket.

"Aw, jeez!" Jess whipped his head away. "Not _on_ you, that's for sure."

"Where'd you put them?"

"Where did _you_ put them? I'm not taking the blame because you can't find your clothes." He turned back to Rory as Sully rummaged around the apartment looking for his misplaced load of laundry.

"Never a dull moment," she said, sipping her coffee. She was already used to Sully leaving his laundry somewhere. Walking around the apartment in only boxer shorts no longer bothered her.

"Nope. Never a dull moment," Jess agreed.

Thunder clapped in the background and a bolt of lightning struck outside the window. "Are we going to be able to get to Ben's in this weather?" Rory asked as she peeled back a curtain to look out the window.

"It isn't so bad. We have umbrellas," Jess said.

"Umbrellas? There's lightning outside," Rory pointed out.

"Yeah, so?" Jess said. Rory sighed. "Oh, right. Metal." He turned back to the Dorito bag and crunched off half of the folded over chip.

"Success!" Sully hollered, emerging with his week's worth of laundry flung over his limbs.

"And yet, no pants," Jess said dryly.

"Don't you want to know where I found them?"

"If you're not wearing them, I don't care," Jess retorted, closing up the Dorito bag.

"Well, it's funny because…"

"No pants, no talking. New rule," Jess cut in.

"I didn't think to…"

"Ah," Jess stopped him in mid-sentence.

"…look in…"

"Ah," Jess cut in again.

"Dude, it's not funny anymore."

"Pants!" Jess exclaimed, snatching a pair from over Sully's shoulder and flinging them over his face. "Now!"

"I think he does that because it's funny when you're flustered," Rory chuckled, pouring herself another cup of coffee.

"So we have a few hours before we have to leave," Jess said. "What do you want to do?"

"We could watch a movie," Rory suggested. "I left my DVD case here before break. It's probably still in your room."

"Sounds good." Jess tossed his empty soda can in the plastic bag hanging on the doorknob. Rory joined him in his room and he moved a few articles of clothing around.

"I'm really glad you take such good care of my stuff," she ridiculed as he pulled the black zippered case from a pile of shirts.

Jess shrugged. "Sorry. I leave my shit everywhere."

Rory shook her head and sipped her coffee. "Sully's scatterbrained, but at least he cleans up after himself."

Jess smirked and set the case on his nightstand. "Come here," he said, pulling her arm.

Rory placed her coffee next to her DVD case and sat down on his bed. "You have to stop being so irresistible," she said before Jess pushed her back on the mattress.

"Oh, I do? That's news to me."

"Shush, you," she said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Jess nipped at her collarbone before pulling back. The clap of thunder seemed to shake the entire apartment. Rory sat up, completely aware of the storm outside the window. "It's getting bad," Jess said. The next clap of thunder sounded like an explosion, followed by a blinding shot of lightning that lit up the night sky. In that next moment, the power flickered out, leaving nothing by the slight fizzle of the cable box, and then complete silence.

Jess reached out to where he assumed his nightstand was. His cell phone wasn't going to provide ample light, but at least he could guide his way to the kitchen where the flashlights were stored in a drawer. His hand met contact with the ceramic coffee cup, knocking the scalding liquid over his other hand and the entire table. "Oh, fuck," he yelped, drawing his hand back.

"What?" Rory tried to adjust her eyes, but all she could see was black.

"The coffee," Jess mumbled, wiping his throbbing hand on his jeans. "I knocked the coffee over." Jess pulled himself off the bed and grabbed Rory's hand. "We can do this," he said under his breath, feeling for the doorway with his hand. His palm smacked into the closed door and he sought out the doorknob.

"Marco!" Sully yelled from the other end of the apartment.

Chuckling, "Polo!" Jess responded loudly.

"Marco!" Sully yelled again, sounding closer.

"Polo!" Jess yelled before smacking into Sully. Both friends screamed and toppled over, Jess dragging Rory on top of the pig pile.

Rolling her eyes, Rory sat up and brushed herself off. "Yeah, never a dull moment," she said under her breath.

* * *

The trio sat in silence as Sully played with the flashlight he was holding. He was illuminating his face by holding the light under his chin to distort his features.

"This sucks," Jess mumbled as the thunder cracked outside. He reached over and snatched the flashlight from Sully. "What are you, ten?" he snapped.

"No, I'm just trying to get my mind off how bad I need to pee." Sully snatched the flashlight back and started making hand animals on the wall.

"Then go to the bathroom," Jess grumbled.

"Can't," Sully said, waving the flashlight on the ceiling.

"Why not…?" Jess stopped short and stared at Sully's dark outline. "Oh, no, don't tell me that you still think…"

"Hey, man, it's a perfectly logical reason. There's water in the toilet bowl."

"We don't have a window in the bathroom!" Jess exclaimed.

Sully shrugged. "Mother Nature has her ways."

Rory tugged on Jess's sleeve. "What is he talking about?"

"Sully concocted this belief that if he went to the bathroom during a thunderstorm that he would be electrocuted from the window."

"Oh, right. Perfectly reasonable," Rory said sarcastically.

"Hey, I don't appreciate the mockery!" Sully started jokingly before he was interrupted by a clap of thunder. "Holy shit, that was really fucking loud."

It was the last clap of thunder for a while, leading them to believe the storm was finally over. Rory continued to huddle against Jess as the rain slapped against the windowpane.

"You think we can head over to Ben's now?" Sully illuminated his watch face. "Party starts in ten minutes."

"How is it that you're willing to go outside, but not to the bathroom?" Jess asked, lolling his head in Sully's direction.

Sully shrugged. "I'm a complicated person."

* * *

Rory grasped her soda cup as Jess drained the last of his beer. "That is…the last one," he promised, tossing the plastic cup in the trash.

She shrugged. "You want to drink? Go ahead and drink." His eyes were glassy as he leaned against Rory. "You're kind of cute when you're drunk."

" 's'all Ben's fault." Jess shook his head. "I'm gon' get a soda."

"Dude, how much has he had to drink?" Sully asked as he wandered over to where Rory was standing.

She shrugged. "I lost count after he and Ben decided they needed to do shots."

Sully chuckled into his beer. "Jess is a lightweight compared to Ben. You can't out-drink a six foot five college guy."

"What about you?" Rory asked. "You sound pretty sober."

Sully shrugged. "I'm Irish. Drunk comes after the whole keg."

"My mistake." Rory shook her head. "I've never seen him drunk before. Is he always this dopey?"

Sully spit his mouthful of beer back in the cup. "Jesus, yes. He seems like the "angry drunk" type, but oh, jeez." Sully tipped the cup back and watched as Rory studied Jess from across the room. "He's not going to remember anything, either."

She nodded as Jess walked over to them with another plastic cup. "Soda?" she asked, peering into the cup.

He drank the sweetened liquid and looked at Rory with glassy eyes. "Soda," he mumbled.

Sully shook his head and took the last sip of his beer. "Dude, you are so gone."

"Hey, I...I am right here," Jess said, stumbling a bit to the left.

Rory giggled and shot Sully a look. "This is blackmail. Do you have a recorder?"

"Sadly, no," Sully said. "But I do have a tape from one of our high school parties." He laughed.

"Don't show'er that," Jess said, reaching out for Sully. "And get o'er here so I c'n hit you."

"He's my little intoxicated toy," Sully cooed jokingly, pinching Jess's left cheek.

"Get back 'ere." Jess said, smacking the air.

"So much fun," Sully chuckled.

"Be more fun if you stopped movin' 'round."

"So hey, look, it's almost midnight," Sully said in an attempt to distract Jess.

He mumbled and threw his arm around Rory's shoulder and leaned against her for support. "You're too big to do this," Rory grunted, trying to distribute the new weight hanging on her shoulders.

"I don' think…that was nice," he mumbled, propping his chin on her shoulder. "You're pretty," he complimented, his voice taking a higher tone.

"Would he remember it if I drop kicked him?" Rory asked as she shifted Jess again.

"Not unless it leaves a mark. And even then, it's debatable." Sully shrugged and set his empty cup on the table.

"I dare you to kiss her at midnight," Jess said, pointing out a person to his friend.

"That's a _guy_, Jess."

"Looks like a girl."

Sully sighed. "Not from here he doesn't, considering that I can _tell_ it's a guy."

"Kiss her." Jess pointed to a batch of girls, his finger wobbling between a brunette and a slender redhead.

"Which one?" Sully sighed, flipping a glance at the fellow redhead.

"The right one."

"The one on the right?" he questioned.

"Yeah, tha's what I meant."

Sully shook his head and watched the clock. "Two minutes."

"'Kay."

Sully turned to Rory. "You're staying tonight, right? Because I don't know if I want to handle hung-over Jess by myself tomorrow."

She nodded as Sully grabbed a breath spray from his pocket. He sprayed it twice in his mouth and shoved it back in his sweatshirt. "I'm goin' in."

"G'luck," Jess mumbled from his place against Rory's shoulder. He was starting to fade off, his eyes closing ever so slightly.

At midnight, Sully smooched the redhead and accepted a phone number and Rory smoothed back Jess's hair and was granted with a passionate kiss.

Sully pocketed the sticky note and shook his head at Jess. He was snoring softly on Rory's shoulder. "Okay, there. Let's get you home so you can throw up."

"Oh, goodie," Rory said.

"An hour, give or take, after he falls asleep. Then you really have to watch him or he'll go back to sleep in the bathroom." Sully unlatched Jess's hand from Rory's sweatshirt and heaved him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. "Years of practice," Sully said before Rory could say anything. "He's lucky he hasn't gotten any bigger."

Nodding, Rory grabbed their jackets off Ben's bed and left for Sully's apartment. Never a dull moment. It was apt to become their motto.


	15. Best Friends and Accomplices

Thanks for the reviews on chapter fourteen: DiehardJavaJunkie14, lillitgirlx2, sexybeastfinnwannafeast, Jeremy Shane, Curley-Q, gilmorefanforever, Lexi, and ShaolinQueen.

I started writing Meetings in a Subway Car with the plan for it to be light, cute, and funny. Mostly because it was comic relief compared to my other stories. So, anyway, I hope it's fun for you guys, because it sure is fun for me.

Disclaimer: I actually own Sully. Jealous? Of course you are.

* * *

**Best Friends and Accomplices**

Rory drew the blinds as Jess turned his head. The bright winter light shined through the room, causing Jess to groan loudly and bury his head under a pillow.

"Are you trying to kill me?" he mumbled from under the bedclothes.

"No," Rory said. "Sully told me to open the blinds, because when you have a hangover…"

"Because when I have a hang over, I like to kill pestering room mates!" Jess flung the pillow aside and squinted away from the light. "Close 'em," he requested, shielding his eyes.

Rory shrugged and shut the blinds. Immediately, Jess hid under the pillow again. Sighing, Rory threw herself back on the bed and lifted the corner of the pillow. "How's your head?"

"Hurts like a bitch," he mumbled.

"Yeah, about that." Rory parted her hair with her fingers and leaned closer to Jess.

"'Bout what?" he murmured.

"When Sully was on puke patrol, you fell asleep in the bathroom and hit your head on the toilet," she said quickly.

"'s'okay. Happens all the time."

"You hit your head on the toilet all the time?" she asked, scooting closer to her hung over boyfriend.

"Yeah, Sully…" Jess paused. "He let me hit my head on the toilet?"

"Apparently?"

"Gonna kill that son of a bitch."

"I thought you said…?" Rory asked.

"That was the…whatever I drank last night." Jess held the pillow over his ears. "You talk a lot."

"Well, pardon me for…"

Jess interrupted her by reaching over and putting his hand over her mouth. "Head hurts."

Rory slid off the bed and glanced at the three bottles sitting on Jess's dresser. They all sported labels in Sully's loopy handwriting. The first label said "tequila," the second label said "toilet," and the third label said "both." Shaking her head, she popped open the third bottle and slipped two pills into the palm of her hand. "You want to take these?" she asked, crouching beside the bed.

"What is it?" he mumbled, moving to the side slowly.

"I don't know." She shrugged and handed him the pills. "Tylenol or aspirin. Something like that."

He swallowed the pills without water and then reached for the glass on his bed table. "Sleeping now," he mumbled, turning away from her.

Rory stood up and left the room, closing the door behind her. Sully was already in the kitchen, standing by the counter in front of the coffee pot. "Morning, Ror."

She looked up. "How'd you…"

"You weren't bitching me out, so I knew it wasn't Jess." He grinned and reached into the cabinet for Rory's mug. "Stupid question: you want coffee?"

"Please," she said, sitting at the kitchen table. "What are you making?" she asked, peering over the counter from her chair.

"Salami and pickles on peanut butter toast."

"Ew. That's disgusting." Rory made a face and accepted her coffee mug from Sully.

He shrugged. "When sleeping beauty crawls out of bed, he'll eat it."

"He _will_?" Rory asked, setting her mug on the table.

"Yup. It's the patented hang over sandwich. Believe me, I know. It's the only reason we have salami and peanut butter here."

"When is he going to get out of bed? I've never seen Jess sleep this late," Rory said, swirling the coffee in her mug.

"Oh, about ten minutes. I figure you gave him the aspirin on his dresser, so it usually starts to work in about fifteen to twenty minutes. And he's not going to be able to get back to sleep if you drew the blinds like I told you to."

Rory shook her head. "That was an enjoyable experience."

"It always is." Sully finished spreading peanut butter on the toast and started pulling the salami out of the package.

"You're a really good friend," Rory said. "There aren't a lot of guys that take care of their drunk or hung over friends, but you guys have this really weird system worked out."

Sully shrugged. "He's my best friend. We both grew up in New York with second-rate families. My dad wasn't that bad of a guy. He doesn't give a shit, but he sends me a check every so often." Sully clicked his tongue and rinsed the knife in the sink. "It was after my sister died that we became attached," he said. "Jess let me stay over when my father started drinking."

Rory hung her head. "I'm…sorry about that."

Sully unscrewed the pickle jar. "It's okay. That's how I learned to deal with Jess when he drank. His own mom was screwed up and that was how he processed things. I'm not saying it was a good idea, but Jess got drunk so easily that I was the one that made sure he was okay. If I hadn't been around, I'm not sure his mother would even care." He abandoned the sandwich and sat on the counter in front of Rory. "So I figured out different aspects of how Jess got drunk and how he acted hung over. It was no big deal. I don't mind doing this. I know how he operates, and in return he puts up with my random antics." Sully hopped off the counter and started placing pickle slices over the salami.

"You're good for him, I think," Rory said. "You keep him grounded."

"I hope so. It's why I'm glad he called. When he was in Connecticut, it was hard to be as close. Then his letters stopped coming and I worried about him, but I didn't know how to contact him." Sully shrugged. "Dude's my best friend. That's all there is to it."

Jess shuffled out of his room, cringing when the door slammed behind him. He was wrapped in a zippered hoodie that covered his bare chest and hit the waistband of the sweatpants that hung across his hips. He acknowledged both his girlfriend and best friend with a meager nod. His hair was plastered to one side of his head, whereas the other half of his hair stuck up in tuffs.

"Good morning, you gorgeous specimen – creature." Sully grinned as he sipped the coffee from his giant mug.

"I fucking hate you," Jess grumbled. "Give me coffee."

"Three cups of joe and he's good to go," Sully told Rory over his shoulder as he poured. "Here you go," he said, setting the mug in front of Jess. "Well, after he's done with this." He slapped the other slice of toast slathered with peanut butter on top of the completed sandwich. After sliding two pop-tarts into the toaster, he set the sandwich in front of Jess.

"Thanks," Jess said, spinning cream into his coffee. Sully tended to the toaster and sat down across from the pair with the plate of pop-tarts, offering one to Rory.

"He'll be back to normal around dinnertime. Not that he ever really was."

Jess glared at him as he held a half of the hang over sandwich in his hand. Shaking his head, he went back to eating the sandwich and Rory broke off a piece of her pop-tart.

"Ironically, that's the only thing he can eat after throwing up all night. Anything else will make him hurl."

"Wow. You really do have him all figured out." Rory sipped her coffee and the table was silent for the rest of breakfast.

"Now he'll watch an episode of the X-files before taking a cold shower." Jess walked away from the table to find his DVDs. "Then since you're here, he'll be all over you." Sully smirked. "Although I expect that won't be a problem."

Rory blushed, eager to opt out of that particular conversation. "I'm going to take a shower before he does."

Sully laughed. "Okay. Have fun later." He winked and broke off the remaining corner on his pop-tart.

* * *

"We have the place to ourselves tonight." Jess tended to the stir fry in the skillet, pausing to sprinkle spices over the food.

"You're good at that," Rory said as she watched him sauté.

"You haven't even said anything about the vegetables," Jess mentioned as he pulled two plates from the cabinet. He removed the lid from the rice pan and stirred the contents.

"That's because I see steak," Rory joked, pinching the skin above his waistband.

"Carnivore." Jess dumped the rice into the skillet and mixed it with the meat and vegetables. "Here you go," he said, heaping stir-fry on her dish. "Your first Mariano stir-fry. Sully swears by it, so you have to like it. Of course, he actually enjoys the vegetables," Jess joked, filling his own plate.

"So, place to ourselves tonight?" Rory asked.

"Yeah." Jess paused to balance the dishes on his arm and set them on the table.

"Where's Sully?" Rory asked as she twisted her fork between her fingers. She was happy for the time they had alone. She had more afternoon classes that semester, so she tended to stay at the apartment more often.

"He's off on a date," Jess said as he set two cans of Pepsi on the table. "And I'm not joking."

Rory nodded. "Why is that…not normal?"

"It's Sully. He had a tendency to scare girls." Jess shook his head in mid laugh. "He is way too quirky for his own good. It's great, but girls…they don't tend to like his quirks."

"Well, that's fine. And if he hits it off with this one…"

Jess smirked as she stopped talking. "Then what?"

A sheen of blush spread across the apples of her cheeks. "Well, you know."

"Oh, really?" He tilted up on of his eyebrows as she dug her fork through the grains of rice on her place. "Do elaborate, Miss Gilmore."

"I'll do you one better," she said with a grin, spearing a piece of steak with her fork. "I'll show you."

He kicked her playfully under the table with his stocking feet. "Well then, better eat quick."

* * *

Jess stroked her chestnut waves as he watched the end of the random HBO movie that they had started to watch. Rory had drifted off to sleep forty minutes ago, but she was too adorable and comfortable to move. Her hair was splayed across his chest and she nestled her head in the dip in his abdomen. It was the moments like these that he loved. They were simple, and he was able to just observe her in peace.

Settling his arm behind her neck, he rested his hand on her hip. Sully was a traditional dater. He kissed on the first date, but never went past the kiss. He would be home soon, but he would be tired and possibly dejected.

Sighing, Jess shifted his body as he heard the key in the lock. Maybe if he could convince Sully that they had both fallen asleep during the movie, then he wouldn't have to deal with the post date until later in the morning. He heard the door swing open and shut his eyes quickly.

"Jess?" Sully hissed, sneaking quietly into the living room. "You snore too goddamn loud to pull off the "pretending to be asleep" thing," he said, tapping his sneaker against the coffee table.

Jess opened one eye and glared at his friend. "Hate you," he proclaimed, shifting Rory off his lap so that he could sit up. His leg had started to cramp about twenty minutes ago, but he had ignored the dull ache.

"Well, that sucks. I _love_ you." Sully flung his arms around his friend's neck and grinned as he sat on the coffee table.

"Moron," Jess said as he shook out his hair. "Why are you so friggin' happy?"

"Mariano, you are a god. A dating god. _The_ dating god."

"O-kay?" Jess furrowed his brow and scratched his forehead. "What did I do that was so…godlike?"

"That girl! The redhead! The one you dared me to kiss. The one at the party where…" Sully paused to sulk a moment. "The party you don't remember because you were so plastered I could have built a statue with your remains," he finished blankly. He turned away. "Hate you."

"Well, that sucks. I _love _you," Jess responded smartly, nestling closer to Rory.

"Tough, man. That ship sailed about two minutes ago. Now it's all about the S.S. My Best Friend is a Drunken Douchebag Who Doesn't Remember When He Sets Corey Sullivan Up."

Jess shook his head and looked up sleepily at his friend. "Good luck trying to paint that on the side of your ship."


	16. No Glue Backs

Thanks for the reviews on chapter fifteen: rocknflorida4lif, DiehardJavaJunkie14, lillitgirlx2, Curley-Q, smartbookworm, ShaolinQueen, Jeremy Shane, tortallanrider, and gilmorefanforever.

Disclaimer: I own Sully and his malicious, devious ways. But that's about all. Yeah, actually that's it.

* * *

**No Glue Backs**

Jess was flopped across his bed with one arm dangling off the side. He was holding a study guide over his face and was scanning the different bullet points with his eyes. The apartment was silent except the low hum of The Clash playing on his stereo across the room. When he had first started to study, the music was blasting. After a few minutes, he realized that he couldn't concentrate and had turned it down as low as possible.

He flipped a page in his study guide and sat up in order to reach his highlighter. As his fingers brushed the cap, the green florescent marker fell on the floor. Groaning, he creased the packet by the staple and leaned over the side of the bed.

"Hey!" Sully yelled as he ducked into the room. Jess reacted to the shock by tumbling over the side of his bed.

"Hi," he mumbled, rubbing the elbow he had whacked off the bed table during his fall. Jess hoisted himself off the floor and back on his bed. "What do you want?" he grumbled, realizing he had lost the highlighter in the crossfire. As he hung off the edge of the bed searching for his highlighter, Sully stood in his doorway with his arms crossed.

"You're an accident waiting to happen," Sully joked as Jess braced himself against the headboard. Sighing, he reached over and retrieved the green marker from the corner of his bed. "Looking for this?" he asked, shaking the highlighter in front of his friend's face.

"Yes." Jess reached over to grab the marker, forgetting that he had been hanging onto the bed for stability. He hit the floor again, whacking the same elbow off the bed table once more. "_Fuck_," he cursed, rubbing the sore patch of skin.

Sully tried to hold back his laughter as Jess lay sprawled across the floor. "Want some help?" he asked, offering a hand.

Jess scowled in response, but lifted himself to his feet. "What did you need?" he asked, straightening out the papers on his bed.

"I, uh, forgot." Sully laughed. "You fell off the bed and I just forgot."

"Gee, thanks. Glad to know to amused you."

"You know, we haven't had a guy's night in a long time," Sully said, tapping on the doorframe.

"Yeah, so?" Jess asked, glancing away from his study guide.

"There's beer in the fridge and we could order a pizza," Sully suggested, grasping at straws.

"Maybe tomorrow," Jess said uninterestedly, flipping a page.

"Aw, come on. You never want to do anything anymore." Sully jutted out his lower lip. "_Please_?" he begged. "You're always busy."

"I have work to do."

"So do I," Sully said. "We can do it together."

"Yeah, and then we can hold hands and skip." Jess recapped the marker and flipped another page.

"You never even thanked me for taking care of you when you were hung over," Sully snapped.

"You let me do shots with Ben. He's like, six foot five. You won't even do shots with Ben."

"Wait. Are you pissed at me for letting you get drunk?" Sully unfolded his arms and shot a look at Jess.

"No."

"Then what the fuck, Jess?" Sully demanded.

"It's nothing." Jess turned back to his paper.

"Fine." Sully turned around and slammed the door so hard that the wall clock slipped from its position over the window.

* * *

Rory creaked the door open, curious as to why it was so silent inside. The occupants were usually loud and obnoxious. When she slipped inside, she furrowed her brow at the sight.

Neither Jess nor Sully were present, but there was a line of masking tape down the center of the apartment. She scratched her head as the bathroom door slammed and a towel clad figure emerged.

"Corey Michael Sullivan!" Jess bellowed, slamming his fist against the bedroom door. His bath towel was secured around his waist, but something green was dripping from his hair. "You open that door right now, or I'll-"

Sully flung open the door. "New rule. No pants, no talking." He shut the door, leaving Jess outside the room.

"Oh, you son of a-"

Sully yanked open his door and grabbed the towel hanging at Jess's waist. "That's _my_ towel," he said before slamming the door again.

Rory giggled from her spot in the kitchen.

"What?" Jess snapped. "It's not funny!" he pleaded.

"You have such a cute little butt," Rory cooed.

Jess shot her a glare.

"We're going to look back on this and laugh."

"No, _you're_ going to look back on this and laugh." Jess kicked the door and stalked back to the bathroom.

Rory shook her head and tapped on Sully's bedroom door.

"It's _my_ towel. I'm not giving it…hi Rory." He paused as Rory laughed at his loss of momentum after flinging the door open.

"You guys are fighting?" she asked.

"It's not really a fight. We just…"

"Decided to decorate the apartment with masking tape?"

Sully scuffed his sneaker against the rug. "He flipped over Baxter!" he reasoned.

"Baxter?" she questioned.

"My turtle. When we were kids, the sadistic bastard used to flip him on his shell." Sully scowled.

"And what's with the green…?"

"Hair dye in his shampoo bottle," Sully finished.

"Why?"

"Super glue in my hair gel."

Rory sighed. "Why?"

"Toilet water in his mouthwash."

"Ew." Rory made a face. "And what started this?"

"He flipped Baxter on his shell."

Rory sighed again. She wasn't going to get a direct answer. "Because…?"

"Because we're fighting."

Rory sighed and rubbed her face with her hand. "You dyed my boyfriend's hair green and made him rinse with toilet water?"

"But he super glued my hair and flipped Baxter on his shell!" Sully pleaded.

"Okay. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Rory walked away from the Sully's room and rapped her knuckles against the bathroom door. "Jess?" she asked cautiously as he heard the water stop running from the shower.

"My fucking hair is green!" he exclaimed from the other side of the door.

"So?" Rory asked.

"So don't come in here until I fix it!"

Rory laughed. "You're going to be in there for a long time if you're waiting for it to grow out."

"I'm not. I'm trying to find more shampoo to wash it out with."

Rory sighed. "I'll still love you if you look like a leprechaun."

"Leprechauns have red hair," he grumbled.

"Well, then I'll be waiting outside."

* * *

"I'm staging an intervention," Rory said. "You, sit here." She pointed to Jess. "And you, sit over there." She directed Sully to his own chair. "Okay, you're going to handle this like men," Rory said, shooting each friend a look. "Not like little boys that put green hair dye in shampoo and super glue in hair gel."

Jess tipped his eyes up to meet Rory's.

"That's right. I know what you do in your spare time."

Jess started to say something, but Rory held her hand up in protest.

"I haven't been here for three days. I've talked to you five times in those three days, and you never mentioned you were at each other's throats." Rory crossed her arms over her chest. "Quite frankly, I'm surprised you two didn't do more damage to each other."

"Yeah, we're not very resourceful." Sully reached back to rub his neck. "I was going to get him with the glue, but…"

"No glue backs," Jess reminded him.

"Is that like no take backs?" Rory asked, sure that the intervention was going to take longer than expected.

"He glued me, so I can't glue him because it breaks the rule," Sully explained.

"_What_ rule?"

"You know. The rule that says you can't glue someone that already glued you," Sully elaborated.

"Perfect sense. Moving on…"

* * *

Jess and Rory strolled around Harvard Square, his arm tucked securely at her waist. The chilly January breeze cut through her puffy coat and his leather jacket, but they continued around the corner to The Garage.

Rory shrugged off her heavy winter coat as Jess rubbed his hands up and down his arms. "You wouldn't be so cold if you wore something heavier than that leather jacket," Rory said. "It isn't even lined anymore."

"I'm fine," Jess said, blowing warm air on his hands and rubbing them together.

"Your nose is pink," she said, grabbing his chapped hands in hers. She rubbed her gloved hands against bare ones and he smiled.

"Your nose is pink, too," he said. "You sure you still want ice cream?"

"I never say no to ice cream," Rory said, peeling the gloves back from her hands.

"Even when it's negative ten degrees?" he asked, unwrapping the scarf from around her neck.

"Even when it's negative ten degrees," she said, hanging the purple scarf around Jess's neck. He let it hang over his leather jacket without protest.

"The usual?" he asked.

"The usual." She piled her winter clothes on the third chair and boosted herself up on the high seat. Rory concentrated on getting warm while she watched Jess collect their ice creams from the counter.

"This is the only kind of ice cream I can't eat in a cone," Jess said, examining the vast dish of Chunky Monkey.

Rory nodded. "There are a lot of big pieces in there. You never know what could happen if you catch your tongue on one."

As usual, Rory finished her dish of ice cream first. Before Jess could protest, she dipped her pink spoon into his bowl and dug out a huge chocolate chunk. "Hey."

"You let me take it," she reasoned, licking the remaining banana flavored essence off her spoon.

He shrugged and scooped a spoonful of ice cream out of the dish. "Yeah, I did."

"You what?" she asked, tapping her spoon against the empty dish.

"What?"

"When I was little, Luke told me there were pieces of monkey in Chunky Monkey ice cream and I believed him."

Jess laughed and pushed his cardboard bowl of ice cream toward Rory. She smiled and scooped the remaining amount out with her spoon. "Luke told me about the monkey in the ice cream too, but I ate it anyway."

"You would," she said, elbowing him. She scrunched up her face. "Brain freeze."

"Not that another freezing loop around Harvard Square isn't appetizing, but how would you liked to come home with me where the heat is?

"You wouldn't be cold if you bought a winter coat," Rory teased, pulling on the frayed corner of the scarf that was still hanging around his neck.

Jess hopped down from the chair and tossed their bowls and spoons in the trash. "Come on," he said, tugging lightly at the fluff on her hat. "Let's get warm. We'll swing by the movie place and rent something. Then we can run into the convenience store and buy a bunch of candy. We'll have a full blown movie night."

Rory zipped up her winter jacket and buried her chin in the faux fur that surrounded the collar. "Okay," she agreed, slipping her arm through his. "But only if you wear my gloves." She pulled the tiny purple gloves out of her pocket and waved them in front of his face. "They match your scarf," she said.

He groaned and took the tiny gloves from her hands. He knew it was a losing battle, and there was no arguing with a persistent Gilmore. "My hands are too big," he pleaded before pulling on one of the gloves.

"They'll fit," she insisted, watching he snap the other glove on. "I should have bought you a pair for Christmas."

"Well, what do you know?" He admired the purple gloves.

"Come on, purple boy. You promised me movies and candy." She tugged on his jacket and then ventured outside in the cold.

Shivering, he pulled her close for the body warmth while they walked to the train station.


	17. Stop, Drop, and Roll

I'm on a roll! Updates everywhere. My ultimate goal is to wrap up all my works in progress by the beginning of February so that I can post some new stories that have been brewing! Obviously, one of the biggest orders of business was **this **story because I haven't posted anything in so long. The other day, I discovered some light outlining for the next couple of chapters and reread the entire story. So my love has been rekindled for this and I could use some comic relief from all the angst and drama brewing in my other stories.

Enjoy! And don't forget to review. It's the best reward for writing and it helps the updates move quicker. Hope no one forgot about this one!

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine except for Sully. I own him.

* * *

**Stop, Drop, and Roll**

The entire apartment was silent when Rory let herself in with her own key. The last time both Jess and Sully were nowhere to be found, they had divided the apartment with masking tape because they were in the middle of a fight. Her eyes danced around the walls, seeking out the sticky divider. When she didn't find one, Rory double-checked the time to make sure she wasn't there when they were both in class.

"No, I just don't know how to do it," Sully said, his voice sounding both timid and angry.

"I think maybe you should talk to your professor then," Jess said, looking over the paper covered in Sully's loopy scrawl.

"I don't know," Sully said. "It doesn't even feel worth it."

Jess groaned as Sully tossed his textbook on the floor. "Are you really going to let something like this defeat you?" he asked.

"Yup. Looks that way," Sully said glumly.

"And you're just going to stay in bed and sulk because you suddenly don't understand something?"

"Yup."

Jess threw up his hands. "So you're going to drop out of school and work at Mike's for the rest of your life?"

Sully nodded before slipping his body under the covers on his bed.

"Do you know how stupid you're being?" Jess pushed.

"Yes," Sully said sharply. "I know how stupid I'm being. I also know how stupid I am. What a quandary," he snapped.

"Sully, you know I didn't mean- "

"No. I knew exactly what you meant," Sully snapped again.

"You're blowing this way out of proportion," Jess started. "All you need to do is talk to your professor and see if he has any insight for you. I don't know what to say because I don't know anything about engineering," he explained.

"Fine."

"So you'll do that?" Jess asked.

"Sure," Sully said unconvincingly.

"Sully- "

"No," he said. "I don't want to hear it any more." Sully shook his head and glanced over at the textbook on the floor. "Go see your girlfriend," he directed.

"Rory? What does she have anything to do with this?" Jess asked.

"She let herself in about ten minutes ago. You should stop focusing on me and go do something nice for her."

Jess pursed his lip, but nodded and left Sully alone in his room. As he closed the door behind him, Jess noticed Rory sitting at the kitchen table with a book open in front of her. "You could have told me you were here," Jess said, sitting across from her.

"You seemed preoccupied. I didn't want to butt in," Rory said, marking her place before closing her book. "Everything okay in there?"

Jess sighed and rubbed his hand down his face, pulling his skin as he went. "It's just Sully being melodramatic," Jess said, whispering the last word.

"Oh."

"Yeah. He's having an issue in school and he's not sure he wants to continue going. He's just beating himself up about it too much."

Rory nodded. "I don't think I've ever seen him sad," she said. "He sounded sad."

"Yeah. I know he did." Jess started playing with a pen that was sitting on the kitchen table.

"Should we maybe cheer him up?" Rory asked. "I'm going to feel bad if we go out and he's just sitting in there feeling sorry for himself."

Pursing his lips, Jess leaned his head in the direction of Sully's room. He studied the door before deciding his next move. "I think he's probably mad at me and I should leave him alone."

As disappointed as she was in his decision, Rory nodded and tucked her book inside the front pocket of her bag. "Do you want to get going then?" she asked finally.

Jess nodded and briefly disappeared into his room to get his leather jacket and a book for his back pocket. He would just talk to Sully later. Hopefully he would be willing to listen then. "Coffee?" Jess asked, checking how much money was stashed away in his wallet.

"That's a rhetorical question, right?" Rory asked, grabbing her wristlet and the book out of her bag. She knew they would be coming back to the apartment later.

Jess rolled his eyes and shoved Rory playfully out the door. "Like I didn't even know that answer already."

They walked down the street until they reached Davis Square and the front door to Starbucks.

"So I wanted to talk to you about something," Jess started as they settled in front of the fireplace with their coffees.

Rory played with the sleeve on her paper cup before setting it down so that she could remove her mittens. "What's up?" she asked.

"We don't really talk about school all that much, so I just wanted to put something out there."

It was sort of an unwritten rule that Rory didn't ask Jess how he was doing with his classes. She didn't want to pry and Jess didn't tend to share. "Yeah. I know."

"Well with the flow of money and my grades so far, it looks that I might be able to transfer to a four year college soon." Jess unzipped his leather jacket and sunk down into the comfy chair with his coffee, waiting for Rory's response.

"That's great!" Rory exclaimed. "Do you know where you want to go?"

Jess shook his head. "No. That's why I wanted to recruit you. I'm obviously not looking for an application to Harvard or Yale, but you've done this before."

"So you want me to help you research colleges and fill out applications?" Rory asked.

"I just need a little help," Jess admitted. "I want to find the best fit based on the tuition and requirements."

"Okay," Rory said. She grinned into her latte as she took the first sip.

"What?" Jess asked, catching the tail end of her smile.

"Nothing," she said. "I'm just proud of you."

A thin hint of blush spread to the apples of his cheeks. "Oh." He smiled out of the corner of his mouth. "Thanks." He pulled off Rory's hat by the pom-pom and laid it on his knee.

* * *

Rory had stayed for an hour or so after they returned from Starbucks before leaving to get some homework done. Exhausted, Jess decided to take a quick cat nap before figuring out the rest of the evening, which would probably include, but was not limited to, consoling Sully about school and trying to make amends. Instead, when he woke up, he discovered a less morose Sully in the kitchen, standing in front of the stove.

"You're cooking?" Jess asked skeptically, rubbing his eyes. He was probably still asleep and imaging the entire chain of events.

"Yeah," Sully said. "Just trying something new."

"You don't know how to cook," Jess pointed out.

"Says who?" Sully demanded.

Jess raised his eyebrow.

Frowning, Sully watched the flames on the burner lick the bottom of the pan. "Yeah. I guess you're right." He tossed his potholder on the counter and watched the flame catch the loop of the potholder. Quickly, he switched off burner and tried to hide the burning potholder from Jess, who had looked away and was busying himself with highlighting notes. "Shit, shit, shit," Sully said under his breath as he fanned the fire, trying not to make the little flame obvious.

"Did you say something?" Jess asked, looking up.

"Huh?" Sully jumped over to the side to shield the small fire he had started. "No. No, I didn't say anything," he said shakily.

"Oh-kay." Jess turned back to his notes while Sully started blowing at the flames, effectively making it spread from the loop to the main part of the potholder. "What are you cooking over there?" Jess asked. "It smells like it's burning."

Sully leaned casually against the counter, efficiently blocking the burning potholder from Jess's view. Jess studied Sully for a moment too long as Sully started to get antsy. "Oh, it's nothing."

"Is…is your shirt on fire?" Jess asked suddenly, jumping out of his seat.

"No. No. Nothing's on fire!" Sully said, trying to block Jess from the counter. A beat. "Oh my God. Jess, my shirt's on fire!" Sully started jumping up and down before throwing himself on the floor.

"Christ Almighty." Jess grabbed a metal lid and tossed it over the potholder to put out the fire.

"Jess! I'm on fire!" Sully shouted from the floor. "Wait, stop, drop, and roll." Sully started rolling around the kitchen floor as Jess threw a pan of water on him.

"There. You're out," Jess said gruffly, lifting the lid to see if the potholder had gone out. It had fizzled, so Jess put the material in the sink and ran water over the burning pattern. "Really, you couldn't have just said, 'Hey Jess, I set something on fire?' " he asked. "Because I would have helped you out before you lit _yourself_ on fire."

Sully examined his white Patriots shirt and pulled the wet material away from his skin. "Yeah."

"Because you burning down the kitchen is not a good idea."

He nodded and accepted the hand Jess extended down to help him off the floor. "Well, it's okay now."

"Yeah. Because you caught on fire and I put everything out," Jess repeated. "So are you done cooking?"

Sully nodded. "Want to get a pizza?" he asked.

"Sure. Sounds like a good idea."

Jess grabbed his keys and wallet so that he could order and pick up a pizza from Mike's and left Sully to change and sop up the water on the kitchen floor. When he returned with the pizza, he noticed that Sully had somehow knocked himself out his funk and was in a much better mood than earlier.

They sat silently on the couch with the news on the television in front of them until Sully started talking about his new girlfriend.

"Perfect woman," Sully said, taking another bite of his pizza.

"Really?" Jess asked. "I still can't believe you conned some poor girl into dating you."

"Hey, I resent that."

"What's her name?" Jess asked.

"Jessica."

Jess coughed for a second before swallowing the crust lodged in his throat. "WHAT?"

"What?" Sully questioned, sucking the cheese off his slice of pizza.

"Oh. No reason," Jess said, sliding another slice of pizza on his plate. "You like her?"

"Of course."

"That's good."

"She loves the Red Sox," Sully mentioned, eyeing the last slice in the box. He had already had one more slice than Jess, but he was hoping Jess wouldn't notice and jump for the last piece.

"Jesus. Now I have to put up with two of you on a game night? I thought one was enough!" Jess noticed Sully drooling over the last slice of pizza and he tossed it on his plate before his bottomless pit of a friend could claim it.

"Just wait until we mix the two of you up. Everyone calls her Jess." Sully started grinning, satisfied.

"Looking forward to it, buddy. You couldn't have started dating someone named Trudy or something?" Jess polished of one slice of pizza and started on the last piece.

Sully snickered and played with the tab on his soda can. "Yeah, well, just you wait. She's a Pats fan too."

Jess raised his eyebrow. "A who-what?"

"A Pats fan," Sully repeated, slower that time.

"She likes Pat?" Jess questioned, feeling out of the loop. "I thought she was _your_ girlfriend."

Sully rolled his eyes. "She likes the Patriots. You know, _football_," he said. "Jeez. You are such a sports retard."

Jess groaned. "I'm moving out." Plucking the unopened can from Sully's hands, "That's mine."

"She's coming over for a Patriots game on Sunday," Sully said, walking over to the fridge to grab another can of soda. "That okay?"

Jess laughed into his soda can. "Rory lives here half the time and you're asking me if your girlfriend can come over and watch TV?" he asked. "It's your apartment."

"Yeah. I just wanted to make sure," Sully said. "Patriots games can be very interactive."

"Like a mating ritual?" Jess asked mockingly. Sully shot him a look. "I know what you do during these games. Half the time you aren't wearing pants and you're jumping on the couch."

"Hey, maybe she, unlike you, enjoys when I'm not wearing any pants."

Jess paused. "Yeah. I think I need to go burn that image out of my brain. Thanks."

Jess stood and Sully looked up at him expectantly. "So you're done with your pizza?"

"Vulture," Jess said under his breath, stalking out of the living room with his can of soda.


End file.
